Infinity & Beyond
by peace.love.jonas22
Summary: Takes place after Last Sacrifice ends. "Things are going to start happening, Rose. Things that make you question who you are and what you've learned all your life. Just go along with it. Trust me; it'll all be worth it in the end."
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so you guys are probably thinking 'What. The. Heck. A Vampire Academy fic?' It's kind of out there, even for me, but I've been reading a lot in this fandom lately and I had to give it a go! I'm completely in LOVE with this series, and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet. I'm honestly just trying this category out at the moment, so I'm not sure exactly where I'll take this if people like it and I continue it. It's really been fun writing! I'm still writing my other stories, for those of you who read those, it's just been a SUPER long time since I've updated. Have no fear, though, I'm thinking that a new chapter of Heartbreak Warfare will be up pretty soon. SO SORRY for the delay in my HM fics, but i've been super busy. It's a horrible excuse, I know, but it's the truth. I swear, this AN is longer than the actual story is. Anyways, I'll quit my rambling now, and let you lovely people read!**

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING (except the plot!) The characters and storyline and whatnot belong to the lovely and talented Richelle Mead! Just about everything belongs to her. I'm just borrowing her lovely ideas for creative purposes.**

**Chapter 1**

I wake up to the luxurious feeling of warm, soft lips pressed against my bare shoulder. A fuzzy feeling spreads rapidly throughout my body, and I suddenly know- this is where I belong. Dimitri's arms are protectively wrapped around my small waist, and I feel safe. Loved, even. Yeah. Definitely loved.

If anything, sleep makes Dimitri look even more beautiful. I twist around gently in his arms so I can face him, carefully avoiding waking him up. Any trace of his harsh guardian nature has vanished, and he looks peaceful. I even think that I see a hint of a smile playing on his lips. The heat from his body radiates off of him, showering me in the same warmth. I don't want to move, don't ever want to get up. I know, though, that soon our jobs will ask for the better of us, and we'll be separated. It's never long; however, even just a few days without him sends me into withdrawals. Smiling wistfully, I trace each outline of his smooth face, knowing that we have to make the most of these last few days together.

The light contact makes Dimitri's eyes fly open. When he sees that it's just me, his chocolate brown eyes melt with affection.

"_Roza_.." he murmurs softly, placing his large hand over mine, which was still resting against the side of his face.

"Hey, comrade. Have a nice sleep?"

He winks subtly. "Well, I'd say it's your fault that neither of us got adequate sleep last night."

"Yeah, my fault. I remember all that protesting you did, too. You sure did everything in your power to prevent it from happening, didn't you?"

He laughs that honey laugh and looks into my eyes.

"You know I can't help myself when it comes to you, Rose."

"Ah, I know. All too well, I might add."

"The things you do to me, my love." He teases lightly, and closes his eyes again.

I snuggle closer to him and spend a good five minutes just breathing in his intoxicating scent. This is paradise, I'm sure of it.

A sharp rapping at the door brings me out of my peaceful state, and I glare at the ceiling.

"Go away," I mumble almost incoherently, and flip over so I'm lying on my back. Dimitri, being the responsible Russian that he is, gets up, pulls on a pair of boxers and throws on a t-shirt, and walks over to the door. He opens it slightly and shields the gap, so whoever happens to be on the other end would be oblivious to last night's happenings.

"Dimitri?" I hear confusion in Lissa's voice. "What are you doing in Rose's room?" When Dimitri and Christian visit the campus from St. Vladimirs, the college arranges guest housing for them. I know her well enough, even without the bond, to know that she realizes what is going on a second after she speaks. "_Oh_.."

Dimitri chuckles in an attempt to fill the awkward silence. "What brings you here, Queen Vasilisa?"

I can almost feel her roll her eyes at the official title. "It's Lissa, Dimitri. No need for formalities. And I was going to see if Rose was up for breakfast, if you two weren't too busy."

I snort. "Do you know me at all, Liss?" I call, still sprawled across the bed. "I'm _always_ up for breakfast."

She giggles. "Get yourself decent, then, and meet me downstairs in twenty minutes."

"Sure thing, Your Honor," I mock her, and I hear a sigh of exasperation before her heels click down the hall.

Dimitri closes the door softly, and strides back over to the bed. He flings himself on top of me, and puts his face close to my ear. "Get up, my lovely Rose. Lissa and a plate of bacon and eggs are waiting."

I push him off of me playfully. "I'm up."

After picking a ribbed black tank top, a pair of jeans, and underwear from my closet, I amble lazily into the bathroom. I brush my teeth, then turn on the shower, where I stand under the heavy stream of water for no longer than ten minutes. Simultaneously, I toss on my clothes while running a brush through my long, dark hair. I'm late, though this should come as no surprise to Lissa. I hide my gleaming stake under my clothes- you never know- and run out of the bathroom. Dimitri's standing on the other end of the room wearing an amused expression.

"Better hurry." He jokes as I pull a grey sweatshirt from a hanger and tug it on. I give him the finger, and hear him chuckle as I fly out the door.

I'm practically sprinting through the hallways of the dorm building, though I know that being on time is a lost cause. When I finally get down to the lobby, I recognize Lissa's shining blonde hair easily among the dozens of people. There are other guardians standing around, I know it, but they stay inconspicuous, blended into their surroundings. Eddie Castile, a good friend of mine, is one of them, and I see him lounging on a red couch, flirting shamelessly with his girlfriend Mia, another friend of ours.

I approach Lissa, and my sudden presence startles her. She turns to me with a knowing look in her emerald eyes. "You're late."

I scoff. "Is this breaking news?"

"No. Breaking news would have been if you'd shown up ten minutes ago."

I laugh in agreement, and pull her up from the couch she's sitting on. We step into the crisp Pennsylvania atmosphere, and I pull my hoodie tighter around my body.

"So," she begins. "You and the Russian had a fun night, I presume."

If Rose Hathaway were the type of person to actually blush, my face would no doubt be flaming. But, I retain my composure, and I smirk at her.

"Naturally." I smile brightly as last night replays in my mind.

"I'm so happy for you, Rose," She gushes, a smile on her lips that mimics mine. "You and Dimitri were made for each other. I couldn't be more glad that the two of you found each other."

"I know," I say with a goofy grin. "What's up with you and Sparky?" I poke her arm, and her cheeks turn the color of a tomato.

"That's, uh, what I wanted to tell you over breakfast." She looks down, apparently finding the cracked, weathered sidewalk very interesting.

"Is it something that I'd get mad about? Because, if it is, I'd suggest that you tell me now. An angry me plus a sharp, pointy fork usually does not end well."

She shakes her head. "You won't be mad- at least, I hope. But I'd prefer your mouth to be doing something other than yelling so you won't make too big of a scene."

"Ah." I muse, just as we approach our destination- a small, quaint restaurant that's nestled on the corner of a strip center whose pancakes are to die for. A girl who can't be much older than us leads us to a table and hands us menus, though we don't even glance at them. We're regulars here, and our orders haven't changed since the first day we walked in.

After a few minutes of random small talk, an old lady approaches our table and smiles warmly at us. "Rose, Lissa! Am I safe to assume that it's the usual order today, girls?"

"Absolutely, Linda." Lissa responds immediately while shooting a smile back at her, and she turns away, heading to the kitchen.

Our food comes out rather quickly, because the restaurant isn't crowded. Lissa's dainty order consists of a mini stack of two pancakes and apple juice. On the contrary, my side of the table has a real estate issue, having been packed with a stack of six pancakes; a plate piled high with bacon, scrambled eggs, and a hash brown; a tray of biscuits and gravy; and my orange juice.

As usual, Lissa stares at my meal with wide eyes, then she shakes her head. My appetite's always been huge, and it's confused since day one her how I've been able to eat to rival a league of truck drivers and still maintain my slim, muscular figure.

I begin to shovel eggs into my mouth like there's no tomorrow, pausing occasionally to take a swig of juice. I cram a strip of bacon into my mouth every so often, and attack my hash brown in seconds. After dousing my stack of cinnamon-vanilla pancakes with at least a gallon of maple syrup, I assault that as well, leaving the plate clean. My biscuits come next, and by this point, Lissa's only just started on her second pancake. I wonder why her appetite has decreased, and figure that she's probable just been to a feeder.

"I'm pregnant, Rose."

I start to choke on a mouthful of biscuits. She looks at me, alarmed, then shoves the glass of juice into my hand. I take a huge gulp, and then glare at her once the food has passed from my esophagus.

"_What_?"

"I'm pregnant. Like, in about nine months, I'm gonna have a baby."

"How the hell are you pregnant?"

"Well, Rosie," she begins as if she's talking to a first grader. "It started when Christian and I got really-"

"Whoa, Liss." I cut her off. "No need to get graphic here. What did Sparky do when you told him?"

"I haven't told him yet. I only found out this morning. I'm going to do it tonight, when I make him dinner."

"This is crazy."

"Tell me about it."

I shove the rest of my food into my mouth, and finish up my orange juice. "You do know that you're the queen, right?"

She looks at me like I'm dumb. "Yes, Rosemarie. That fact has not slipped my mind."

"How are you supposed to rule a nation, attend college full time, and take care of a baby at the same time?"

"I'll find a way, Rose. I didn't know this until I was staring at that positive sign, but I want this. I want a family while I'm still young. Plus, I've got a bunch of people to help me out. It's not like I'd be going through any of this alone."

I grin at her. "I'm gonna teach this kid how to throw a wicked punch. He'll be fighting before he can walk."

"Not if I have anything to do with it, you won't."

"Ah, but too bad you won't, my darling."

She slowly- oh, so slowly- finishes her pancake, and we leave the café after paying.

"I'm just happy that you didn't freak out on me. I'm sure I'll get enough of that from Christian. And then there's the whole free Moroi world to worry about."

"Yeah, Pyro's gonna light up." I snicker at my own pun while she just rolls her eyes. "Get it?" I press.

She shoves my shoulder as hard as she can, which isn't saying much. "Shut up, Rose."

"Seriously, though. He's going to flip out. The dude's not exactly the best with kids. And God forbid that the kid be a fire user. One Sparky running around is enough."

"Rose, I'm already sort of freaked out. Please don't put these unwanted images in my head of the Royal House on fire."

"Liss, it's probably better to face it now. If Christian's the father of this sucker, your baby is going to be a freak."

She gasps. "Rose! Seriously?"

We're back at the dorm by now, and we part ways once we reach Lissa's floor. I climb the two flights of stairs rather than wait for the elevator, and I'm at my door in seconds.

When I fling the door open, I see Dimitri sitting on the bed, a book open in his lap. He's got his cell phone pressed to his ear, and his eyes are wide and full of emotion.

"_Mama_?" he says, voice cracked and full of amazement.

My jaw drops, and I realize that if he hadn't called his family, Olena, Yeva, Viktoria, Sonya, and Karolina were all still unaware that he had turned back into a dhampir.

"Yes, she's here, mama. Would you like me to put her on the phone?" He looks up at me and motions with his arm for me to come to him. When I do, he hands me the phone. I put it to my ear.

"Olena?" I breathe.

"Rose? What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Olena. I thought somebody would have called you, at least. But, to explain the situation in the least amount of words, Dimitri's a dhampir again."

"What- how?" Her voice is frazzled, confused.

"Lissa, the spirit user, charmed a stake with her power, and she staked him while he was a Strigoi. It healed him of his unnatural state, and he became dhampir. None of us are exactly sure of how it happened, though."

"Rose," she says, and I can tell that she's crying. "I can't begin to thank you enough. You brought my boy back_. Thank you_."

"Olena, there's no need to thank me. Really."

"There is, Rose. There is." She pauses momentarily. "Rose, I know this is a lot to ask, but is there any way the two of you could come to Baia? I'd love to see you again, and I need to see my Dimka."

My eyes brighten at the idea. "We'd love that." I confirm. "I'll talk to Lissa and see what I can do."

I can hear a smile in her voice. "Thank you again, Rose. We'll see you soon."

I whisper a farewell into the speaker, then press the end button and give the phone back to Dimitri.

"Rose, I don't know if I ever told you this, but thank you so much for giving me my life back. I never thought that I could see my family again. I didn't realize how much I missed seeing them until after I had changed back."

I press a hard kiss to Dimitri's forehead. "Don't you ever thank me for that. I did what I had to do; I did what was right."

"However you want to put it, you saved me, Roza. I can't ever repay you for that."

"There's no need, Dimitri. You being here with me is enough to last a lifetime."

He looks at me with such tender eyes, and my heart melts into a puddle on the floor.

"I love you, milaya."

I return the gaze and stroke the side of his face. "And I you, comrade."

**Not too long, but I'm working on the next chapter as we speak, and hopefully it'll be longer. Please review and tell me what you think, because I'm still a little bit on the fence about this one.. I'm liking the change, but I'm just a tad confused. This is Rose/Dimitri all the way, FYI. This will mainly be a fluff story, unless I decide to throw some drama in. It's a very cliched storyline, but I'm working on changing it up a but. I love writing in Rose's POV; she's a great female main, and her personality is great. It's really different than what I usually write, it's my first VA fic, so spare me a little bit, please! :) I'd love to hear what you guys think of the start of this story, and it's very true that reviews = faster updates!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews, guys! It means a lot, that you guys take the time to say what you think! Remember, the longer, the better! Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, just holding each other. This is one of the rare times that Dimitri shows his vulnerable side, but it's over just as soon as it came. He looks up at me gratefully, and stands up.

"Rose, I'm going down to the gym. Do you want to come spar with me?" Yup, vulnerable Dimitri is long gone, replaced by the indestructible Russian god we all know and love.

"I actually have to go talk to Lissa about something. Can I meet you down there in half an hour?"

"I'd love that, Rose. Take your time." He kisses my cheek lovingly, and takes off out the door.

I throw a pair of loose gray sweatpants into a bag for when I catch up with him, along with my fighting gloves. I leave right after he does and close the door on my way out. I jog down the two flights of stairs until I reach Lissa's floor, and take off down the hallway until I'm standing in front of her room. I rap my knuckles impatiently against the wooden door, and she opens it, looking flustered.

I stare in confusion. "What's up?"

She shrugs. "Nothing. Why are you here?"

"Ouch. I mean, if you don't want me, I can go.." I tease lightly.

"Rose, you know I love you. I'm just having a bit of trouble in the kitchen." That explained the burning smell that was wafting from the inside of the dorm.

"Oh, Lissa.." I sigh, shaking my head. "Anyway, I need to ask you something."

"Sure, what's going on?"

"I want to go to Russia." I blurt.

She raises an eyebrow. "Why Russia, of all places?"

"Dimitri's mother just called. They didn't even know that he had been turned back into a dhampir again. For all this time, his family thought that he was still dead. Undead. Whatever. I know he's dying to see them again, and I want to go with him."

She calmly gets up. I frown. "Uh.. Lissa? Where're you going?"

"To book you guys your tickets."

"Wait- what? Liss, I just came here because I wanted to know if it was okay with you. I am your guardian and everything, and I didn't know if you'd be okay with me disappearing off to foreign lands for a couple weeks."

"Rose, you already do so much for me. I'm perfectly fine with it. I've got eight other guardians, and they'll be sure to look after Christian while Dimitri's away. We'll be fine."

"Liss, you really don't need to buy the tickets."  
"I want to, Rose. This is my way of saying thank you for everything you do for me. I know it doesn't even begin to cover it, but please accept this."

I pull her into a tight hug. "Thanks, Liss. But, please, don't feel like you have to repay me. I do what I do because I love you, and I'd gladly put my life on the line if it meant saving yours."

She rolls her eyes. "Don't start with me, Rosemarie."

"Liss, you know it's true."

She smiles triumphantly as the papers spew out of the printer. She hands both to me. "Here you go. You guys leave early tomorrow morning, so don't stay up _too_ late doing whatever you guys do." She winks knowingly.

"Tomorrow morning? Is that enough time for you to sort out the guardian stuff?"

She nods. "Yeah, I'll call them now and arrange something for the next two weeks."

I thank her about a million more times and squeeze her around the waist again before I head out to the gym. There's only one on campus, and it's a seven-minute jog from our dorm. It's usually crowded, so sparring is tricky due to the watchful eyes. When I reach the large, modern building, I pull the heavy glass doors open and see Dimitri in a far corner lifting weights. As I get closer, I can see his bare muscles ripple deliciously under the heavy weight. His shirt had been carelessly tossed to the side, and I bite down on my bottom lip to keep from jumping him right then and there. He doesn't notice that I've arrived, so I get to spend a couple extra minutes admiring his body.

"See something you like?" Dimirti asks with a smirk. Damn, I must not have noticed him putting the weights up. I put on a cool façade, and grin right back.

"You know I do."

He shakes his head, mumbling something in his native language.

"Guess what?" I ask him anxiously, poking his arm.

"What's up, Rose?"

"So, I, uh, just talked to Lissa. And you and I are leaving for Russia tomorrow morning." I inform him nonchalantly, and enjoy that I've taken him completely by surprise. His jaw drops a little, and his deep brown eyes go huge.

"We're going to Russia?" he repeats, sounding dazed.

"Yup, flight leaves at six tomorrow morning." I shudder, not appreciating that I'd have to get up that much more early.

"What about your classes?"

I shrug, uncaring. "I'll only be missing about three days of classes. Spring Break starts the week after that, and I'll be back a couple days before school starts up again."

I was not expecting me to attack me then. Well, he didn't actually attack me, more like grabbed me in a huge embrace that may or may not have scared the crap out of me. He buries his face in my hair and breathes deeply.

"God, I love you, Roza."

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before, comrade." I put on a disinterested look. He feigns shock, and he clutches his chest dramatically. I try not to put too much thought into the fact that he's still shirtless.

"Wow, Rose. Way to kill a mood."

I smile cheekily. "So, can I kick your sorry ass now?"

He glances down at me, amused. "You can _attempt_ to kick my ass, but that's as far as you're ever going to get."

I shove him aside playfully. "And we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

In the locker room, I pull on the black pair of sweatpants and strap the fingerless gloves on. I pull my hair back into a high ponytail and then go into one of the back rooms. The compact space is meant for wrestling practice, but it works just as well for our purposes as well. There's a red mat on the floor, with a white line marking the perimeter. Dimitri's stretching; I walk inside and do the same. Once we've gotten warmed up, we meet each other in the center of the block and prepare our rigid fighting stances.

We're just circling each other for about a minute, each of us trying to weigh out our options. Suddenly, he jerks forward, his fist flying out. I barely dodge it and throw a hook back towards him. He deflects it way too easily, and then goes for a kick behind the knee. I slide out of the way quickly, and opt for a swift roundhouse kick to his chest. He's not ready for this, and the side of my foot makes contact with solid muscle, and he staggers back just barely. I smile.

"Point. What were you saying about me before?" He grunts in response.

"Don't get cocky." He reprimands, frowning.

"No other way to do it, comrade." I throw another punch, which he dodges effortlessly. I don't know what exactly happens next, but all of a sudden I find myself lying on my back, Dimitri's huge frame on top of me, crushing my ribs and lungs. I gasp for air.

"Damn you."

He smiles, his face just inches from mine, and then places a hand over my

heart, pretending to have staked it. "You're dead." He pronounces proudly.

"So are you if you don't get your heavy ass off of me." I growl, trying to shove him off, but he doesn't budge.

"Nah. I think I'll stay. You're pretty comfortable."

"And you're going to wake up with no reproductive organs tomorrow, if you know what I mean."

His eyes widen slightly, but my point gets across. He slowly rolls off of me and groans in disappointment.

"You're no fun, Rose."

"Well, it's not very nice of you to tackle your girlfriend after you'd just hit her."

"It's also not very nice of said girlfriend if she abuses you daily."

"Yeah, but I'm the girl. It's allowed."

"You're also a girl who can take a damn hard punch."

"Doesn't give you the permission to hit me, jerk."

He smiles that half smile of his. "Then what gives you permission to hit me back?"

I land a punch to the side of his jaw. "I have something to prove."

He winces slightly from the impact. "I don't think anybody's actually doubting you."

"You still don't believe that I can beat your ass."

"I don't believe it because it will never happen."

"Somebody's confident."

"Somebody's deluding themself."

We spar for a good half hour after that, and he'd been right- I didn't end up beating him. He takes way too much pleasure in this fact and smirks even while we pack up our stuff and head back to my dorm. After I unlock the door and swing it open, I carelessly toss my gym bag in a corner and flop down on the bed. Dimitri comes and sits next to me, taking my hand in his.

"I should get going, Rose. Start packing for tomorrow." There's a smile on his lips as he says this, and the excitement in his body nearly radiates off of his skin.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." I tilt my head back and glace at the digital clock that sits on my nightstand. The bold red numbers blare that it's 4:47 a.m. into the dimly lit room. Dimitri ducks down and presses a kiss to my forehead. I close my eyes in contentment and sigh softly, enjoying this moment while it lasts. He pulls away, and I can tell that it the act was done so reluctantly. I want to reach out and pull him closer to me, but I know that the two of us need to start getting ready. After gently brushing a strand of hair away from my face, he sends a last smoldering look my way and leaves. I groan and stand up, heading to my closet and pulling a large black suitcase from a shelf on top.

I begin to pack my clothes- a bundle of shirts, pants, jackets, and underwear get thrown in. I lay my large winter coat on top and add in my pair of Ugg boots. I fill a small bag with my minimal makeup and perfume, and zip that into a compartment of the bag. Fifteen minutes pass, and I realize that this is extremely boring work. In hopes to lighten the mood, I set my iPod on my dock and click it on shuffle. An Eminem song that I like comes on and my work becomes a tiny bit more bearable. I've almost finished my work by the time the song finishes and a slow John Mayer song takes it's place. I snort at the cheesy, clichéd song, and wonder how the hell it ended up on my iPod. I'd have to talk to Lissa about this later.

A knock from the door sounds in the room, and I jump and skip over piles of clothes to get to it. I pull it open, not sure of who would be wanting to speak to me. What I see on the other end startles me, and my throat goes dry.

"Little Dhampir." He acknowledges me with a nod. "How've you been?"

"Adrian.." I manage to stammer. "What are you doing here?"

**Sorry it's kind of short. It wasn't supposed to end like this, but I kind of liked it. I didn't want too many things to be happening all at once, so we're going to save the Adrian stuff for next chapter. Please review, my lovely readers!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi, my beautiful readers! Here's the third chapter for ya'll... hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except what is mine. Wow, that is redundant. Anyway, you guys know what I mean. I don't own Dimitri, Rose, Lissa, Christian, blahblahblah. But I DO own Sarah. And pretty much the plot. But not all. Ugh this is getting rambly.**

**Chapter 3**

"What, you want me to go? Sure, I'll leave. Even after I went through so much trouble just to come back here and see your pretty face again."

"No, no. I'm just confused, is all. I, uh, the last time we saw each other, we didn't exactly leave it on good terms."

He shakes his head. "Rose- you hurt me, I'm not going to lie or sugarcoat it. But I'm over that now. The things you said were all true. I need to find somebody who's right for me, who balances me out. You and the Russian are just too damn perfect for each other."

I step forward and find myself in his arms. "Adrian, I thought you hated me. I thought you were serious when you said you'd never come back."

"I'd never hate you, Rose. Sure, I was angry, but you mean too much to me. I can't let you go just like that. Plus, I, um- I found someone."

My eyes widen in shock. "Like a _girl_?"

He rolls his eyes. "No, Rose. A guy. I've made the switch."

"_What_? I mean, that's great and all, but I just always thought that you were into women."

He laughs. "Jeez. I'm just kidding, Yeah, I found a girl. Her name's Sarah. I can't even believe I'm about to say this, but I think she's the one, Rose. I love her. I'm thinking of asking her to marry me."

My eyes soften. "Aww, Adrian. When do I get to meet this Sarah?"

"I was thinking of getting everybody together for dinner tonight. I ran into Christian on my way here, and he said something about you and your lover leaving for his motherland tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we're leaving for Russia in the morning, hence the disaster area in my room. Suck timing, huh? You get here and we're leaving the next day."

He shrugs. "Yeah, but you'll be back soon. Tonight we should all just catch up. God knows I haven't been around to know what's going on with all you people."

"Sure, Adrian. That sounds awesome." I look backwards into my room, and then turn back to him apologetically. "I kinda have to go now. Packing's a real bitch, and I want to get it over with as fast as possible. But we'll definitely see you tonight. Tell everyone else, okay?"

"You bet, Little Dhampir." He kisses me on the forehead, and it's almost as if it's a brotherly motion. Before he leaves, I open my mouth again.

"Adrian, I just want you to know that I'm really, really, sorry about everything that happened between us. I really do love you, just not like _that_. You're so special, so important to me, and I never wanted to hurt you. You leaving practically tore me inside, and I'm so happy that you're back."

"No harm, no foul, Rose. It's all good now. I'll see you tonight." He turns and heads down the hallway, back towards the elevators.

I go back into my tidal-wave-struck room, and finish up my packing, walking around my room one last time to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything. Once I'm satisfied, I go into my closet and change out of my sweatpants and t-shirt and into a flowery, flowing sundress that comes to just past my knees. Since it's pretty chilly outside, I pull on a black leather jacket and killer black motorcycle boots that almost come up to the hemline of the dress. I sling my purse over my shoulder, then leave my dorm room and go into Lissa's. She's lounging on her pink bedspread, leafing through a _Seventeen_ magazine.

"You're such a girl." I tease, nodding at her reading selection.

"Not my fault my best friend chose to have Y chromosomes."

"Have you seen Adrian yet?"

She looks up at me, completely shocked. "Adrian's here?"

"Yeah, he stopped at my dorm about fifteen minutes ago. You didn't know?"

"No, I didn't. And you guys talked? How awkward was that?"

"Actually, it wasn't too terrible. We talked, smoothed things over. He's dating another girl. He says that she's 'the one' and that he wants to ask her to marry him."

"Aww!" was her response, which I could have predicted easily.

"Yeah, he was going to get everybody together for dinner tonight, before Dimitri and I leave in the morning."

"Really? Thank God. I tried cooking dinner for Christian, and it didn't exactly pan out as I wanted it to. This way, I can tell everyone that I'm pregnant at one time! I can make reservations at that Italian place in Court."

One thought of creamy alfredo sauce makes my mouth water and my stomach grumble. "We're really going to go all the way to Court?"

"Why not? It's only a forty-five minute drive." she shrugs. "Also, it's not like either of us is planning on going to class tomorrow."

"Sure, then. Please do."

"I'll text Adrian first, see if that's okay." I nod my approval, then head to her fridge to see if there's anything to eat. I'd skipped lunch, and that does not make for a very happy Rose Hathaway.

"Adrian says it sounds great, and that he'll text everybody to meet up at the parking garage." She calls, while I keep digging around.

"Cool. I'm starved, don't you have anything edible in here?"

"There should be some ice cream in the freezer. You think a gallon can hold you over for a couple hours?"

"We'll see," I say, and my eyes light up as soon as I locate the cardboard container. I scoop some into a large bowl and do some more hunting until I come up with chocolate sauce, rainbow colored sprinkles, and a can of whipped cream. I decorate my bowl colorfully and sit back down on the bed. Lissa looks over at me and wrinkles her nose while she talks to who I assume is somebody who works at the restaurant we've picked for dinner.

"Table for eight, please." She pauses for a minute. "Eight o'clock sounds perfect." After she hangs up, she looks at me, and then down at my bowl, and sighs in disapproval.

"That's disgusting."

"Are you kidding me? Best stuff ever."

"Have fun gaining forty pounds tonight."

"You know as well as I do that's not going to happen."

"Ugh. I know. It's not fair. Damn your high metabolism."

"It's all thanks to my Russian jailer and his tendency to make me run like crazy."

"At least you can run for five minutes straight without passing out."

"What can I say? It's a gift."

"Yeah, yeah. No need to rub in the fact that physical exercise doesn't kill you."

"If it did, I'd be a pretty suck guardian, wouldn't I?"

"That you would be." She giggles. This is nice, spending time with Lissa. With her being Queen, and I being her head guardian, the two of us are always drowned in work, not even putting into consideration the shitload of homework that comes with being a college student, and we're always too drowned in our responsibilities to just hang out and talk like this.

"Who's coming, again?" I ask inquisitively.

"The two of us, Dimitri, Christian, Eddie, Mia, and of course Adrian and his new mistress."

I laugh. "I can't wait to meet the girl who's keeping Adrian sane."

"I'm just shocked she's able to put up with him."

"Very true. We need to have a serious talk with that crazy bitch." I tease.

We burst into another fit of chuckles, when Lissa looks at her bright pink wristwatch. "It's five-fifty. We should probably start heading to the garages."

As if on cue, a knock at the door brings Lissa to her feet. She opens up the door and the first thing I hear is Christian complaining on the other end.

"Hey guys!" Lissa greets cheerfully, and I know that it's not just Christian at the door.

"Hi, Lissa." Oh, there's my Russian god!

"This stupid Pennsylvania weather's really getting to me. It's so freaking dull! How can you guys stand this?" Christian whines.

"Suck it up, little girl." I taunt from inside.

"Always a pleasure to see you, Rosie."

"Right back atcha, Chrissie."

"Anyway," he continues boredly. "We should get going. Adrian says to be down at the garage by six." I see her nod, and then she comes back inside the room, and Christian and Dimitri follow. Dimitri stands next to where I'm sitting on the bed, and he pulls me up effortlessly. I stumble forwards into his awaiting arms, and he steadies me.

"Thanks." I mumble, and look up into his eyes.

"You ready to go?" he asks me, still holding on to my waist.

I grab my bag. "Sure, Ivashkov's probably waiting."

Dimitri grimaces; it doesn't go unnoticed. "Dimitri, I don't think he's that pissed at you. He said he moved on. Plus, even if he did decide to beat you up, you could take him."

"What I did was wrong, Rose. I don't blame him if he is still angry."

"I made the choice. I love him, but like a brother. You're the one that I was meant for. I hate that I hurt him, but he's found somebody else, and hopefully she's good for him."

He takes my hand, kisses it swiftly, and follows as Lissa and Christian walk out the door.

It's still pretty dark when we go outside, but we can see that the sun is just beginning to peek over the dark mountains in the distance, making the sky a dark purplish-blue. The parking garages are only a five-minute walk from our dorm building, and we're there just before six. Eddie, Mia, Adrian, and who I assume is Sarah are already there, standing next to a tall, black SUV. I look the girl up and down. She's got flaming red hair that goes until the middle of her back, and it works well with her extremely pale Moroi skin. She's tall and skinny, just like Lissa. As I come closer, I can see that her eyes are emerald green, and are shaped like a cat's. I'm amazed at how well she can pull this off. She's stunningly gorgeous, and has a warm smile ready for the four of us as we approach the car.

"Hi, I'm Sarah!" she giggles and offers a small wave. Lissa smiles back at her and introduces the rest of us.

"I'm Lissa, this is Christian, that's Rose over there, and the one standing next to her is her boyfriend, Dimitri."

"Wow," she gushes. "Your majesty, what an honor!"

Lissa turns a bright crimson color. "Just Lissa, please. The fancy titles and whatnot make me sick."

She nods seriously, still looking awed. Lissa then turns to Adrian and pulls him into a tight hug.

"God, you freaked all of us out when you left like that, Adrian. Where the hell were you?"

"I wasn't too far, just about an hour and a half away from here, staying in a hotel. I just wanted to clear my head, you know? A lot of shit happened."

I look down, feeling guilty once again. Adrian notices, and he gives me a look that assures me that everything's okay. He steps towards Dimitri, then holds out his hand.

"Belikov. How are you, man?"

Dimitri clears his throat and accepts Adrian's hand. "I'm doing well, what about you?"

He slips an arm around Sarah's waist and smiles lazily. "I'm great."

"That's good to hear."

"So," Adrian announces. "We should get going."

The SUV has enough seats for all of us, so taking an extra car isn't necessary. Dimitri drives, of course, and I sit in the passenger's seat, a defeated expression on my face.

"Can I _please_ drive?" I beg, putting on a pout.

He looks at me. "So we can end up in a lake? I don't think so."

"I am an excellent driver. Besides, where the hell is there a lake anywhere near here?" Everybody else in the car snorts or makes some kind of protest, questioning just how 'excellent' of a driver I actually am.

"You'd find one, Rose. I know it. You can be an excellent driver the day I become a cowboy. Which is to say, never."

"Or the day Adrian stops drinking." Chimes in Christian.

"Or the day Lissa beats somebody up." Adrian adds.

"Fine. I get it. You guys are shitty friends." I huff and fold my arms dramatically over my head.

"Someone's PMSing," I hear Christian mumble. I whip around and shoot him a glare. If looks could kill…

"Christian!" Lissa exclaims from beside him, and gives his arm her best attempt at a punch, which isn't saying much.

"What?" he asks innocently.

"You never ask a girl if she's PMSing!" Adrian informs him. "And especially not Rose! What's wrong with you, man?"

"Excuse me for not being familiar with the thoughts and hormones of the female body."

"Coulda fooled me, Sparky." I toss at him, still scowling.

"Haha, Rose. You are too funny." He drawls, looking bored.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"That was sarcasm, by the way. Just incase your miniature brain didn't get that."

"Miniature brain, huh? Tell that to your miniature dick."

Outrage floods his features, and I smirk proudly while everybody else in the car stares in amusement. "I do _not_ have a miniature dick!"

"Uh-huh. You keep telling yourself that, Pyro."

"I don't! Wanna see?"

I wrinkle my nose. "I'd rather not, thanks."

"You're a real bitch, _Rosie_."

"I've learned from the best, _Chrissie_."

A sigh of frustration escapes Lissa's lips. "God, will you two just shut up? You're really pissing me off."

Christian wraps an arm around her. "Aw, babe. I could never piss you off."

She stares at him. "You're coming pretty damn close, honey. Now shut your trap."

"You're still a stupid bitch, Rose." I hear Christian whisper a few minutes later.

"I'd shut up if I were you, Christian." Dimitri pipes from the driver's seat. "We all know how Rose gets when you mess with her short little temper."

"Agreed," says Lissa. "I like your pretty face too much to see it all black and blue."

"Is this beating going to happen before or after I smother her in flames?"

"Christopher Robin, we both know that you love me way too much to burn me alive."

"Oh, Rose, you must be delusional. Also, my name is Christian, just in case you forgot. Calling me Christopher Robin does not make sense."

"Ah, on the contrary, Chris, I believe it makes perfect sense. In my eyes, you are nothing if not a wimpy little boy who wears his shirts tucked in and spends his days in a forest talking to animals who somehow talk back to him."

"Fuck you, Rose."

"If you did, Dimitri would kill you."

"I will barbeque your face."

"Tell me if it tastes good."

"Whore."

"Dick."

"SHUT UP!" Adrian, who had been quiet for some time, explodes. "You two are worse than five year olds."

"Well, yeah. If a five year old used the same naughty words as Christian here, we would have a big problem."

"I know!" Lissa exclaims. "We can play the quiet game for the rest of the ride. Rose, if you win, you can punch Christian in the face." Christian's eyes widen and he begins to protest. Her voice lowers and she whispers in Christian's ear. It's soft, but I can hear that she's saying that there's no way I can win and that he has nothing to worry about. He smirks.

"Deal. Hathaway, I'll tell you what. If you do win, I'll throw in fifty bucks on top of my screwed up face." There's a cocky smile on his face that says that he's not worrying about losing his money or his pride.

"Your face is already screwed up."

"Your mom is screwed up." He retorts back childishly. I roll my eyes, and there's a collective groan in the car. Everyone realizes where this is headed.

"Your mom's birth control screwed up."

"Your dad's condom screwed up."

"Your mom's abortion screwed up."

He screws up his face, no doubt trying to one-up me. "Ha! See, I'm just better than you, Christian." I stick my tongue out at him and he gives me the finger.

I love car rides.

**I've got a question for you- I'm looking to change the name of this story.. any suggestions? Quite frankly, this one sucks, but I really can't think of anything that fits. Also, what genre(s) should I put this in (romance, humor, adventure, etc.)? Thanks a lot for reading guys, your reviews really motivate me to get my ass off my couch and update this for you guys. I know I'm damn slow at getting new chapters out, but I'm getting better, I swear! Pleaseeee review, my darlings!**


	4. Chapter 4

**The reviews last chapter were awesome, guys! Thank you so much! There's nothing that gets me in a better mood than reviews, and they also kick my ass into writing mode!**

We arrive in Court about twenty minutes later, and everyone seems relieved to be out of the car. I didn't end up winning the quiet game, much to everyone's annoyance and Christian's relief. I caved three and a half minutes into the thing, whining to Dimitri, "Are we there yet?" He'd responded with an exasperated shake of the head, and I'd sighed in annoyance.

The restaurant we enter is dimly lit, and the scent of pasta and sauces greets me as a teenage girl leads us to our reserved table. Dimitri grabs my hand, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing it gently all in one fluid motion. I smile at him as we take our seats, and our hands stay intertwined under the table while Lissa orders a couple bottles of champagne. As the waitress fills our glasses with icy water, she's not subtle about winking at Dimitri and smiling flirtatiously. I send her a glare that has her looking away in a second.

"Got something in your eye, sweetie?" I ask her sarcastically, false sweetness dripping through my voice. Dimitri's hold on my hand tightens, a nonverbal warning from him to me, telling me not to do anything stupid.

"No, uh, I'm fine." She stutters, avoiding eye contact. Christian and Adrian both grin; this kind of situation happens more than it probably should, and they can anticipate my reaction by now. The girl practically runs away once she's done with the water, and I burn holes in her back.

"Rose, you are the most jealous person I've ever met." Christian says after he's done chuckling.

"Well, you're the most stupidest person I've ever met."

"I thought we were over this, Rose. I swear, you only know like two insults. And also, just in case you were wondering, 'stupidest' isn't a word."

"But it's the only word that can describe you perfectly." I protest.

"How'd you graduate, again?"

"With my stunning ability to kick ass left and right."

"I swear to God, Rose. I will cut your lips off of your face while you're sleeping." Adrian threatens, narrowing his eyes menacingly at me.

"That's a little creepy, cause you're implying that you're planning on sneaking into my house at night and doing mean things to me."

"I thought that was my fantasy, not yours?" There's a small cough that comes from beside Adrian, and he turns to look at Sarah, who's playfully glaring at him.

"Oh, love. You know I'm just kidding. Rose would castrate me and then I'd have her scary Russian boyfriend to deal with."

The corners of Dimiti's mouth turn up. "Why does it matter so much to everybody that I happen to be from Russia?"

"It makes you even more of a badass." I supply, grinning at him. "Your accent makes you sort of scary."

"It does, does it?"

"Yup. But I'm not scared of you. I know that you're just a big softie."

"Rose," Christian scoffs. "There are a lot of things that Belikov might be. But I really kind of doubt that he's _soft."_

"Well, obviously. You've never slept with him." I stare at the both of them. "Unless there's something the both of you would like to share."

Christian looks like he could punch me at the insinuation, but we're thankfully interrupted by our dumb waitress, who is waiting impatiently to take our orders. She looks at each one of us and scribbles down our meal choices. I smile triumphantly once I realize that she's no longer flirting with Dimitri. She doesn't look me in the eye as she takes my order, just looks down at her notepad determinedly. I inform her that I want a bow-tie pasta dish and point to it on the menu. She nods and takes note of it. She's gone a minute after that, and we all resume our conversations. Later, Lissa sends me a pointed look, and I realize what she's about to do.

"Guys," she says in an attempt to gain everyone's attention. It's pretty soft, and only Christian, who is sitting right besides her, hears. "You guys, I need to say something." She tries again, this time louder.

"Shut up, you assholes!" I exclaim. All eyes immediately turn to me. "Lissa's got something to say."

She takes a deep breath and I give her an encouraging smile. "Um.. there's something I want to tell you guys. But you have to promise not to like have a heart attack, okay?" She directs the last sentence to Christian, looking straight into his eyes. He nods once, and confusion is evident in his eyes.

"So, I found out this morning that I'm pregnant." She announces in a completely casual tone. The table goes silent.

Everyone- except for me and somehow Adrian, that is- stares at her in complete shock. Adrian doesn't look all that surprised for some reason. Dimitri, Eddie, and Mia all seem confused at the new information, and Sarah's looking at Lissa in awe. Christian's face is almost comical. He's staring at her, his mouth open just the slightest bit.

A string of nonsense words leave his mouth, and I suppress a giggle at his expense.

"Shut your mouth, Pyro. A bird's gonna fly in."

"Well, excuse the fact that I'm just a little bit shocked over here."

"Why should you be? You two are worse than a pair of rabbits. It was bound to happen eventually."

He turns to Lissa, ignoring me childishly, and grins. "It's really true, Liss? We're going to have a baby?"

"Yup," she smiles at him gently. "You're going to be a dad. Also, I'd like to point out to everyone that from here on out, swearing will not be permitted around my child." She turns and looks at me accusingly. "That means you, Rose."

I put on a fake shocked expression. "Me? Swear? I'd never do that around you, Liss. Child or no child."

"I just don't want it's first word to be an obscenity."

"Don't worry. I'll just duct tape my mouth shut for the next nine months so your kid can grow up a sweet little angel. Maybe I'll forget how to speak in the process. But it's okay, if it's for the greater good."

"That's all I ask." Replies Lissa with a smile.

The food comes out then, and I'm staring longingly at the tray. The smell overwhelms me, and I swear my mouth starts to water at the delicious aroma.

"Calm yourself, Rose." Adrian warns, apparently sensing my eager disposition.

"Why don't you calm yourself, Ivashkov?"

"I'm calm as a clam, my dear."

"It's happy as a clam, dumbass."

"Yeah, but calm just sounds better. It's got that whole alliteration thing going on, you know?"

"No, can't say I've ever thought of that."

All conversation gets cut off as my bowl of pasta gets set in front of me. My stomach lets out an embarrassing growl of hunger, and everyone else at the table snickers at me. I silence them all with a death glare and proceed to dig into my dinner, stopping periodically to wash down a mouthful of pasta and cheese with a drink of bubbly champagne. The drink's good: light, but satisfying with a small tingle that leaves my throat craving more. It's not nearly strong enough to get me drunk, though, which I suppose is good because I doubt Dimitri would have a good time carrying my wasted ass home.

"Hey, Christian." I call out with my mouth full.

"What, little girl?"

"I bet I can make you say purple."

"I bet you can't."

"Oh yeah? What're the colors of the American flag?"

"Red, white, and blue." He scrunches up his nose, confused as to where this is going.

"See, made you say blue!"

"But you said purple?"

"Ha! Sucker!"

"What?" A look of realization crosses his face. "Oh."

"You're dumb."

"I'm not dumb; you're just a manipulative little bitch."

"What did I just tell you about swearing in front of my child?" Lissa huffs.  
"That was all Christian! My mouth was totally clean!"

"Alright, Rose. You're officially a manipulative little female dog. With rabies."

"Why would you even say that?"

"Why do you say half the things that come out of your mouth?"

"Well, because there's no filter in my brain."

"Don't we all know that."

"Nobody needs your sarcasm, Christopher."

"For the last fucking time, my name is Christian."

"Guys!" Lissa nearly shrieks, guarding her flat stomach protectively as to shield the kid's ears from Christian's harsh language.

"Sorry, honey." Christian whispers sheepishly.

Lissa huffs like a little child and turns her head when he tries to kiss her.  
"Haha! Rejected, Sparky."

"Why don't you shut your trap before I light your-" he glances at Lissa nervously. "Arse on fire."

"When'd you go all British on us?"

"When I decided that Lissa wouldn't care as much."

"Besides, we're in the middle of a crowded restaurant. You wouldn't dare." I narrow my eyes at him.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" A small flame dances lightly on his fingertip. It extinguishes before I know what happened.

"Maybe it's just me, but I think a full-on dhampir bonfire might attract some attention."

"Well, Rose, given your reputation with most of these men, I don't think they'd actually care too much."

"So what if I've broken most of their noses? I don't think that's a reason to watch me burn while they enjoy their meal in peace. And, anyways, most of them had it coming."

"When you say 'most of them,' are you implying that you've broken someone's nose for no apparent reason?"

"Not necessarily. Mostly it was during sparring, so it's not like it was completely savage of me."

"I disagree; I can't possibly imagine a time where you aren't completely savage. Just looking at you eat that was enough to give me nightmares."

"You wanna talk about nightmares? Try having to wake up every morning in a cold sweat because your skinny ass frightened me out of my sleep."

Lissa just shakes her head, not even bothering to chastise my language.

"My skinny ass is beautiful, thank you very much. Liss, tell her."

"I'm not getting into this." She shakes her head and takes another spoonful of her pasta.

"She's letting you down easy, buddy."

Christian and I banter the rest of the way through dinner, and I swear that everyone else at the table is ready to pull their eyelashes out. After paying the bill, we leave the restaurant and tumble back into the car. I sit up front again, but Dimitri still won't let me have the keys, even when I bat my eyelashes at him.

"Rose, how many times do we have to go over this? There is no way in _hell that I'm ever going to trust you with car keys and the lives of seven others."_

"Your faith in me is really impressive, Comrade. I feel the love."

"And we're going to feel the broken bones when you run the car into a bunch of trees."

"Even if that happened, Lissa and Adrian could heal us with their super magical fairy ninja powers."

They both snort at this. "Rose, could you please not call us fairy ninjas again? The two words are completely juxtaposed to one another, and also, it's wounding my pride to think that you think of me as a frilly girl in sparkles." Adrian opposes from the back.

"Nah. Now that you hate it, I think it fits perfectly."

"Rose, excuse me for asking this, but is it your life's goal to make people feel uncomfortable in everything you do?" Eddie asks, which surprises me. I hadn't heard him speak all night. Him and Mia were too busy acting all lovey-dovey.

"Yup. You guessed it, Eddo. Uncomfortability is my specialty."

"I'm no dictionary, Rose, but I'm fairly sure 'uncomfortability' isn't a word." Dimitri reasons from beside me.

"Shut up, Dimitri. Nobody asked for your opinion." I'm lucky that all my friends have long gotten used to my brash personality. I'd come off as quite the bitch if they didn't.

"That wasn't actually an opinion. If you'd paid any attention to our English classes, you'd know that was just an assumption. Nowhere in that statement was he stating a judgment or his view on a certain topic." Lissa says, smug.

"If you'd paid any attention to me in our English classes, you'd know that was my napping period. I don't think I learned a thing in that class."

"_Every period was your napping period, and I'm pretty sure you didn't learn a thing in any of your classes."_

"Exactly."

"You were the worst student ever. Like, I'd go insane if I had to teach you for an entire year."

"Lucky you're not a teacher, then. I'm sure there are versions of me everywhere."

Christian, who actually does have experience in the teaching area, speaks up. "You have no idea. There's this kid in one of my classes who pisses me off like you wouldn't believe. I'd strangle him if it didn't mean prison and me losing my job. He's a Zeklos, go figure." (**I don't know if this was clarified earlier or not, but Christian and Dimitri are back at St. Vladimir's, where Christian is teaching an offensive magic course.)**

"Chris, don't pretend like you don't spend every second of your being looking for things that remind you of me. We all know that you love me, deep down inside."

"Yeah, maybe. Once you get past the disgust, annoyance, and all the feelings of despise, there may be some part of me that loves you. Or not. Probably the latter."

I don't respond for fear of Lissa's wrath, just turn around and flip him off.

"Real classy."

"Your face is real classy."

Lissa cuts in. "No. Oh, no. We're not doing this again. Christian, shut up and stop provoking Rose. Rose, just turn around and keep your comments to yourself for the rest of the ride." Her tone is one that screams no-nonsense, so we both obey her and sit quietly. Everyone else in the car lets out a sigh that I assume to be of relief.

When we get back to Lehigh, we part ways. Lissa, Dimitri, Christian, and I go back to the dorm building while Eddie and Mia go back to theirs, which is a couple blocks down from ours. Adrian and Sarah go to the guest housing building, where they're staying for however long they choose to visit. I give Lissa a quick hug before she enters her room.

"Rose, come see me in the morning, okay? You can't leave without saying goodbye."

"Liss, it's going to be early."

"I don't care, Rose. I need to see you before you leave for two whole weeks!"

"Okay, Lissa. But don't blame me when you're all cranky."

She laughs lightly. "Goodnight, Rose. I'll see you in the morning."

I wave and Dimitri and I walk up the two flights of stairs until we're on my floor. I fumble with the key but manage to get it into the slot and open up the door. The minute we're inside, I kick off my shoes and flop face-down on the bed.

"Hey, Rose. I'm going to head over to my room and bring my bags over here, okay? That way, we can just leave from here tomorrow morning."

"Sure," I mumble into the pillow. My eyes are already shutting, and I wonder why I wasn't this tired ten minutes ago. I hear Dimitri's footsteps walking towards the door, and I hear it click shut behind him as he leaves. I don't bother changing out of my clothes, just let my ears drown out all the excess noise, and before I know it, my eyes are shut and my body embraces it's long-needed sleep.

**Hey guys! So, it might be a while before the next chapter comes up, cause I'm busy with school and crap, and I haven't even started it. I just wanted to get this up for you guys. Tell me what you think of this in a review! I love you all to pieces!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, my loves! Thank you very muchly for the reviews! Hope you like the chapter- it's pretty much just a filler, but it had to be done. Rose and Dimitri are finally in Russia! Also, if there are any consistency errors, I apologize in advance, and please tell me if you find any!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own. Blahblahblah. Same only story. All the characters and basically everything except most of the plotline of this FF belongs to Richelle Mead. I don't own any songs or brands/companies I mention. **

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

I groan and force my eyelids open while simultaneously stretching my arms out. My hand hits something hard, and I turn around to find Dimitri looking adorably sleepy while he massages his red cheek.

"Was there really any need to slap me upon waking?"

"Absolutely. Can't do it any other way."

"You're really charming, you know that?"

"Sure, I do. It's part of my irresistible essence."

"Well, you and your irresistible essence better get into the shower and hurry up. We should be down at the airport in an hour and a half."

I lift two fingers to my forehead and pretend to salute him. "Sure thing, Comrade."

I stumble out of the bed and make my way to the bathroom while simultaneously yawning and stretching my arms again. After I brush my teeth, I take the speediest shower of my life, standing under scalding water while I run shampoo and conditioner through my thick hair. When I'm done, I wrap a towel around my body and step out into the room. Dimitri slips into the bathroom right after me, and I soon hear the sound of the running water again. I put on a simple pair of jeans and a deep purple tank top with elaborate lacing on the back. I lace up my black Converse, and run a brush through my hair, making it shiny and smooth. After I've slid a bit of clear lipgloss on my lips and applied a thick coat of mascara and eyeliner, the water in the bathroom shuts off. I walk slowly through the room one last time, making sure nothing important has been left behind. I guess you can say that I'm super OCD about packing, which is ironic, because I'm completely chill about everything else in life.

"You ready?" Dimitri appears at the bathroom door, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He's also got his duster on, though this is no surprise.

"Yeah, I think so." His smile grows huge, and I can't help but smile back at him.

"I take it you're excited." He takes my hand and grabs his suitcase. I take mine in my free hand, and we leave the room, locking the door behind us. We reach the first floor of the building and I stop in front of Lissa's room and knock quietly, as to not wake the whole floor up. A minute later, she opens, looking extremely tired and groggy.

"Hey, Liss."

She suppresses a yawn and grins. "Hey." I'm suddenly engulfed in a huge hug. I instinctively wrap my arms around her.

"I'm gonna miss you so much, Rose. What're we going to do without your charm and wit?"

"I guess Sparky's going to have to hold you over for the next couple weeks. But don't worry; you can call me any time you get bored of him. Just make sure you're mindful of the time difference because you know how I get when I don't have my sleep."

"We all know how that works, Rose."

"Anyway, we really should get going. Go back to sleep, Lissa."

"Bye, Rose. Call me as soon as you land, okay?"

"Of course. I'll miss you, Liss."

"Love you, Rose."

"Love you too, Liss. I'll see you when we get back." I grin at her one last time and walk down the hallway. She waves at me and I send one back as we disappear around a corner.

Lissa had arranged for a car to drop us off at the airport. When we left the dorm building, a shiny black Mercedes was parked conspicuously in front. I assumed that was our ride, and we began to make our way over to it. We throw our luggage in the trunk and sit in the back. Dimitri seems to know the guy who's driving us; his name's Stefan and they're talking to each other in fluent Russian.

The ride to the airport takes about half an hour, and we're parked in front of the international departures terminal. We check in and get our boarding passes and then make our way to our gate, where we wait for the next forty-five minutes. During this time, I seize the opportunity to get a snack, seeing as how I'd skipped breakfast. There's a Subway shop nearby, and I get a footlong sandwich and a Coke. I return to Dimitri and hand him half of the sub.

"Rose, it's hardly six in the morning. Why would you not get a normal breakfast food?"

"Because sometimes normal breakfast food just doesn't cut it, Dimitri. You, of all people, should know this."

"This can't be healthy this early in the morning."

"Who the hell cares about healthy? It tastes damn good, and that's all that counts."

He sighs and hesitantly takes a bite of his sandwich. By this time, I'm already half done with mine. We finish our meals and share the Coke. Soon, there's an announcement over the loudspeaker that tells us that our flight is ready to board. We gather our things and enter the plane after handing a lady in navy blue our boarding passes. Our seats are in the first class cabin- knowing Lissa, how could we have expected anything less? I sigh in frustration- this is going to be a _long flight, about eleven and a half hours to Novosibirsk, and we'd have to take a train into Baia from there that would take another good couple hours. Normally, a flight would take a halt somewhere along the way, like Amsterdam or London or something, but Lissa had booked a continuous flight. Dimitri, with his immense height, easily lifts our suitcases to the top bin, and I climb into the two-seat row._

"I'm nervous." I admit, biting my bottom lip ever so slightly. His eyes widen just barely, and he looks at me with a confused expression on his face.

"Why are you nervous? Shouldn't it be me? You know, ex-Strigoi and all?"

"Well, it's not nervous per se, because I've already met them all and I know they're not going to hate me. I'm just kind of guilty, I guess, with the way I left. Viktoria's probably still pissed at me."

"Why was Vika angry with you?"

I look at him. "I don't think it's my place to say anything. Also, I think I did a pretty good job taking care of him."

"Him?" His eyes narrow and he looks super-angry.

"Uh.." Shit. I'd said too much. "Yeah, she was having problems with a guy, and I tried to help out. She wasn't too thrilled with how I did so."

"What did he do to her?"

"Nothing; I intervened just in time. Thus causing World War Three in the form of your little sister. She refused to talk to me, and I left later on that night without saying anything to anyone except Yeva. She knew I was leaving. She said that I didn't do what I came here to do, and that was to help you find peace. I found these guys and left for Novosibirsk in the morning."

"What was his name?" Oh, God. He's going to interrogate me the whole way there. And Viktoria's never going to hear the end of it.

"It started with an R- hold on, Rolan. Rolan was his name."

His mouth turns down in a confused sort of frown. "I've never heard about a Rolan." He grimaces. "Not that I've been the best big brother, and all."

"I don't even think your mom or sisters knew about him. Anyway, you should ask her about this, because I'm pretty sure that I'd just be adding fire to the flame if you found out what happened. She's already mad; let's not let older brother murdering her ex-boyfriend make her even angrier."

"He didn't.. he didn't sleep with her, did he?"

I make a noise of disgust. "No. I didn't let it come to that."

"Thank you, then, Rose. You did what I was unable to do, and I'm glad you did."

"She's like a little sister to me, I couldn't let that happen on my good conscience. The guy was a total dick. He hit on me the second she turned around."

"And she liked him?"

"She was in love."

"I'm leaving it up to you to knock some sense into her."

"Dimitri, I don't know if you know this, but people kind of thought I was a whore myself when I was in school."

"Ah, but I happen to know that you were nothing of the sort."

"That doesn't mean that people didn't think that I went around sleeping with anything that had legs."

"It doesn't matter what people think, Rose."

"Still. My point remains that I'm not the best person around to talk to Viktoria about remaining a conservative and pure teenage girl."

"You'll do fine."

"Also, there's the possibility that she'll ignore me the whole two weeks we're there."

"I'm sure it won't come to that. She's never been able to hold a grudge."

"I don't know about that. She basically told me that she never wanted to see me again."

"Rose, everything's going to be fine. Just go to sleep for now; we got back late last night and you barely got any sleep."

That sounds terrific right now, so I pull a blanket over my body and snuggle into Dimitri's shoulder. Sleep welcomes me as my breathing slows, and my world becomes dark for the time being.

I wake up a few hours later with a splitting headache. Dimitri's got his eyes closed, and he's resting his head on the back of the chair, but I know he's not asleep because a hard, protective expression still resides on his face. I moan loudly because of the pain, and his eyelids fly open.

"Are you okay?"

I squeeze my eyes closed in an attempt to block out the pain. "No. I am _not fucking okay."_

"I thought the ghosts didn't affect you now that you're not shadowkissed?" Worry lines his handsome face.

"Well, I thought so too. Looks like the bitches are paying me a surprise visit." I try to keep my voice low, because we are surrounded by humans, and drawing too much attention would not go over well.

"Just try to block them out, Rose. We've only got a couple hours left until we land."

"How lovely." I try to remember everything I've learned about putting up my mental blocks, and very slowly, and very painfully, I set up the barriers inside my mind. When I open my eyes again, Dimitri's staring forward, most likely trying to figure out what was happening to me.

"Do you think that you're still shadowkissed, but just not bonded to Lissa?"

"Well, I lost the bond with Liss when I died and came 'back' by myself, but I guess that means that I'm still kind of bounded to death. I've still got that connection with the dead, which probably means that the ghosts are still obsessed with me."

"What happened to the ring that Oksana charmed for you back in Russia?"

"I think the magic's worn away because I don't feel the same tingle when I put it on. I keep it with me, but I'm pretty sure it needs to be re-charmed before it can serve any purpose again."

"We'll ask her to charm it again when we see her."

I nod in agreement. By now, when I look out the window, I can see that we're flying over the green landmass of Russia, the clouds forming a bed underneath us.

"Aren't you tired?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "Not really. I'm used to staying alert on little to no sleep. You, however, need to rest."

"I'm fine, really. I got a good few hours in there."

"You're going to be horribly jet-lagged. Not only is there an eleven hour time difference from here and Baia, but the community lives on a human schedule."

"Oh, God."

"It's not that bad. Knowing my sisters, they'll be dragging you all over town, so you'll have no time for sleep."

"Well, doesn't that sound great."

"And Mama will be cooking all day. That's what I'm looking most forward to." He smiles that easy smile of his, the one that reaches his eyes and lights up his entire face.

"Now, that really does sound great."

"And you can try borscht and ukha and shchi- you'll love those-" He teases before I cut him off.

"Stop right there, Comrade, let's not get carried away. I refuse to eat anything gross."

"None of it's gross, unless you don't like raw fish and boiled cabbage."

"I think you know perfectly well that I don't like either of those things. I have a hard time believing that anybody likes raw fish and cabbage in any form."

"On the contrary, Rose, those are considered delicacies."

"While that may be true, how many of them have had donuts and American pizza?"

"There's not exactly a Krispy Kreme on every corner there, Rose."

"Well, then, we should do something about that, shouldn't we?"

"There's a reason most people there are healthy."

"Are you calling me morbidly obese?" I say in mock outrage.

"That's hardly what I said." He raises an eyebrow at me in amusement.

"It was definitely implied."

"You think what you want. People there also don't work out as much as we do. Not many women at all become guardians."

"Do your sisters still know how to fight?"

"Not as well as you do, obviously, but they all attended St. Basil's and graduated. They probably haven't fought in a while, but they've got the basic skills, though they might be rusty."

"I think Viktoria wants to be a guardian."

"I think so, too. I hope she does become one. She's just scared about what Mama and Babushka will say."

"You should teach her how to fight while we're there."

"Two weeks is hardly enough to become a kickass guardian, but if she's up to it, we definitely can have a couple of training sessions." The smile on his face dims just a little.

"What's wrong?" I grab his hand.

"It's stupid, but I can't help but feel scared about seeing my family for the first time after I was turned back."

"Don't be scared, Dimitri. They'll love you regardless of what you were."

"The things I did were horrible, Rose. How can I expect them to forget that I was a monster?"

"I've told you this four hundred times before- you had no control of the things you did as a Strigoi. Your family will forgive you, because they are amazing people with an even more amazing capacity to love deeply, no matter what the situation might be. You heard how happy your mother was to hear your voice again. Just think about the reactions of your family when they see you after such a long time."

There's that smile again, and I can't help but return it. "We should've brought earplugs."

"Damn, I _knew I forgot something!"_

He laughs and wraps a comforting arm around me. "Thank you, Roza. I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me, you coming to visit my family with me."

"I've met them already, remember? I loved being in Russia; your family was great. And your mom's food was enough to make me seriously consider staying forever."

Soon, we're beginning to descend into Novosibirsk, and I can make out the colorful buildings and domes beneath our plane. The sight nearly takes my breath away, and I glue my eyes to the window. Beside me, Dimitri's gazing out at the land he knows so well with a sentimental sort of expression upon his face. My heart leaps in my chest, seeing him so happy.

A rough twenty minutes later, we land on the runway and begin our taxi towards the gate we'll be stepping off in. Dimitri says that there's a train service straight from the airport that goes into Baia, and that we should be there shortly after nightfall. We exit the plane a couple minutes later, and get tickets for the train ride once we're inside the airport. The next train that's scheduled to leave is in ten minutes, so we relax on a bench for the time being. The sun's still out, but it's slowly sinking down the horizon, and I know that we've only got a few more hours of safety before we risk any chance of an encounter with Strigoi. This isn't very likely to happen, but taking precautions can never be a bad thing.

Dimitri pulls me off the bench just a few short minutes later, and I look up to see that the train is just pulling into the station. It comes to a complete stop in front of us, and we board it quickly, handing our tickets to a man standing at the entrance and finding empty seats towards the back, where it is way less crowded.

I guess I nodded off to sleep somewhere along the ride, because before I can thing coherently, Dimitri is shaking me gently and telling me to get up.

"Huh?" I say smartly.

"We're here, Rose. You fell asleep."

"Oh." I take my suitcase and follow him as he leads the way to the entrance of the train, and we step off onto the concrete pavement. I hope he knows where he's going, because the street signs are written in some Cyrillic language. We stick to busy main streets because the sun has long gone down and we don't want to take chances.

"Dimitri?"

"Yeah?"

"Where the hell are we?"

"We're only a couple blocks from the house. Don't worry; we're not lost. I've wandered these streets way too many times to be confused."

"That's good, because these streets do not look familiar at all."

"You probably explored the other side of town; this part doesn't really experience much excitement."

As we get closer to the neighborhood, I begin to recognize some of the small shops on street corners, like the little convenience store I'd met Mark at, and the little shop Sonya was working at. We take another turn and I can identify the house that his family lives in. We finally reach the front of it, and he pauses briefly, stopping just for a second, but I can recognize the hesitation.

"Dimitri," I urge. "Your family loves you. Don't worry; they're all going to be ecstatic to see you again."

He nods once, and we make our way to the front door of the small, cozy home. I ring the doorbell once, and I hear feet scurrying inside. The door opens just a minute later, revealing a frazzled and shocked Olena. Her eyes widen a mile large when she sees the two of us, and lets out a strangled yell.

"_Dimka?"_

**How was it? Please leave a review and tell me! I love you all- thank you for reading! **


	6. Chapter 6

**So I know it's been a really long time.. but I have a good excuse! I've been out of the country and haven't had ANY time to write. So here you go- it's a bit short, but I really wanted to get it up for you! Also, I'm changing the title of this story from 'Permanent Marker' to 'Every Teardrop is a Waterfall'. I love the new Coldplay song, and I think the title is just 400 times better. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

The bag he's holding in his hand drops to the ground and his mouth goes slack.

"_Mama_."

She flies towards him, and he flinches, probably anticipating an attack. Instead, she engulfs him in a bone-crushing hug, and he instinctively wraps his arms around her petite body as well.

"Oh, Dimka," she hums. "I've missed you. I could hardly believe it when you called. Yeva said something about you coming back to us, but we all wrote it off as one of her crazy ramblings. But she was right. You came back for us, Dimka. You came back."

"You have Rose to thank for that, Mama. Without her, I wouldn't be here right now."

I smile sheepishly at her, and her eyes become even huger than before. "Rose!" She sounds surprised, and I guess Dimitri's huge frame had been blocking me from view. "I asked you to come sometime soon, I didn't think you'd hop on a plane the very next day!"

"I saw how happy your phone call made him, and we've got break coming up anyway, so I thought there couldn't be a better time to fly out here." Next thing I know, she's got me wrapped in hug as well, and then she yanks the both of us into the house.

"Viktoria, Karolina, look who's here!"

I hear the sound of feet thumping down the stairs, and the sound of two girls bickering reaches my ears.

"Dimitri!" I hear Viktoria squeal. She soars through the space between them and into his arms, nearly tackling him to the ground. "Mom was right! Oh my God, this changes everything."

Karolina's just standing there, staring at her younger brother in shock. Dimitri goes to stand in front of her. "Karo?"

"Oh, Dimka. We missed you so much. When Rose came to tell us about you, none of us could imagine the horrible things you must have gone through. We couldn't bear to think of it. I didn't think I'd see you again, Dimka, but here you are." After her speech, she gives him a tight hug as well.

"Where's Sonya?"

Olena glances at a clock that's hanging on the wall. "She's at work; she should be home any minute now. She'll be surprised to see you."

"How're the babies? Paul?" Dimitri asks Karolina.

"They're both well. Paul's taking a bath now, but he should be out in a minute. Zoya's asleep already, she's had a long day."

"What did Sonya end up naming her baby?"

"It was a girl; she named it Katerina. It's a precious little thing, sleeps all day and never fusses. Complete opposite of Zoya. I swear, that girl is going to drive me insane."

Dimitri keeps conversing with his sister, and I notice that Viktoria's sitting by herself on a couch, away from all the action. I approach her slowly, nervously.

"Viktoria?"

She looks up to meet my eyes. "Hey, Rose."

She goes right back to staring at her chipped black nail polish, and I sit down beside her. We both speak up at the same time.

"I'm sorry," We both chime in unison and look at the other in surprise.

"Rose," she begins. "I'm so sorry for what I said and how I acted towards you. I forced you to leave, for God's sake. I'll never forgive myself for saying such hurtful things."

"Vik, you didn't force me to leave. I left because I had to go do what I came to Russia to do in the first place- find your brother and free his soul. I couldn't have stayed. I'm sorry for interfering. It's just that I care about you so much and I couldn't watch that guy take advantage of you. I realize that I was wrong for getting to involved in your life and I should have trusted your judgment."

Her mouth forms an angry line. "You were right, though. I asked Sonya who the father of her baby was the day you left, and she told me it was Rolan and that I should stay far away from him. I was stupid to think he actually cared for me."

"You weren't stupid, Viktoria. Just young, and he was a jerk to think that he could take advantage of that."

"Could you forgive me, Rose? I missed you so much."

"Sure, Vik. But only if you forgive me."

She grins at me and tackles me to the floor. Laughing, I set the two of us upright and stand up, pulling her along with me.

"Rose, are you hungry? I could make you something. We're about to get settled for the night, but I know that you and Dimitri won't be tired, so you can just stay down here for a while." Olena tells me with a knowing expression.

"Don't go through any trouble, Mama. Just go on to bed. I'll make us something." Dimitri interjects. Olena looks skeptical.

"Dimitri, remember that time when you were eleven-"

He cuts her off. "Mama, I'm almost thirty years old now! I promise, I won't burn the kitchen!"

I suppress a giggle while Dimitri playfully glares at me. "It was once!" He defends himself. "And a complete accident!"

"Fine," Olena agrees. "But if one thing in that kitchen is burnt, so help me, Dimitri Belikov, you will be not be allowed to set foot in my kitchen again."

He rolls his eyes. "I promise, mother." She reaches up to kiss his cheek goodbye, and he has to bend down to her tiny height. She does the same to me, although she doesn't have to stretch nearly as far.

"Goodnight, Rose, Dimka." We both smile warmly at her and wish her a good night as well. Viktoria follows her up the stairs after waving a goodbye, but Karolina stays behind.

"I want Paul to see you guys before he goes to bed. I'll go get him; you stay right here." She hurries up the stairs and Dimitri and I flop down on the couch. He sneaks an arm around my waist.

"Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

"Yeah, actually, you have."

"Well, I love you, Rose. So much. You are everything to me."

"I know, Dimitri. And I guess I love you too." I say jokingly with a smile.

"Good to know," he teases back and grins at me.

A few feet away, a high-pitched squeal rings through the otherwise quiet house and we're suddenly being attacked.

"Auntie Rose!"

"Hey, Paul." I sweep him into a huge hug while he wraps his arms around my neck. "God, you've gotten huge!"

He turns to Dimitri, as if just realizing his presence. "Uncle Dimka?"

"Hey, buddy. I've missed you."

"Uncle Dimka!" he cries again, leaping out of my arms to go to Dimitri. "You came back!"

"Of course I did, Paul. I could hardly stand to be away from you."

"But they said you were-" his voice quiets, as if he'll get in trouble for saying the word. "Strigoi."

Dimitri's eyes cloud. "I was, Paul. I was a demon."

"But in school they teach us that one can never, ever come back from being a Strigoi."

"It's very, very rare that something like this happens, Paul. I'm just lucky that I had Rose and her friend Lissa to help me out."

He looks at me with an expression so serious that it could be considered comical. "Thank you, Auntie Rose."

"Don't thank me, Paul. I did what I had to do."

"I missed you. Everything was so boring after you left. Mama was so sad and Vika wouldn't talk to anybody. Karolina wouldn't come out of her room and Sonya was acting weird because of the baby. Babushka was the only one who was behaving normally."

"Paul!" Karolina calls from upstairs. "Get up here; it's time for bed!" Paul grins sheepishly at us.

"I guess it's time for me to go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, right?" A hopeful expression crosses his small face, and we grin reassuringly at him.

"Sure thing, Paul. We'll see you in the morning."

"Night, Uncle Dimka." He hugs Dimitri tightly, wrapping his tiny arms around his uncle's large frame. "Night, Auntie Rose." He does the same to me, and I kiss his forehead as he hops out of my grasp. We watch him patter up the stairs in that energetic way of his, and then Dimitri pulls me up from the couch with a twinkle in his eye.

"I'm not sure I like that look, Comrade."

"Get your lazy ass up, Rose. We're going to cook something."

"I don't know if you know this, but there's a reason why I don't cook, Dimitri. At all. Hell, I don't even think I own a freaking pot. My diet consists of Easy-Mac and cereal."

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing that my mom taught me this recipe so long ago. I'll teach you, Rose. It's not rocket science."

I still feel skeptical about the idea, but I follow him into the kitchen anyway. He navigates his way around the large space expertly, as if he'd never left. Suddenly, the oven's humming away as it heats up, and we've got random ingredients sitting on the island countertop.

"This is going to take a while, so you have to promise me that you'll be patient, okay?"

"Can't make any promises, Dimitri. You know how ADD I get. Patience is not one of my many virtues."

"Just trust me. You'll like what we're making."

"Which is what, exactly?"

"My mom's black bread. She told me that you were really fond of it."

A grin spreads itself across my face, and my mouth begins to salivate at just the thought of the moist, warm bread.

"Let's get to baking then, Comrade."

He laughs whole-heartedly. "As long as you're so enthusiastic about this, would you mind filling this bowl halfway with flour? Think you can handle that?"

I narrow my eyes at him as he stares at me, amused. "Yes, Dimitri. I can handle that." I make a big deal of taking the bag of flour from him and pulling the aforementioned mixing bowl towards me. Dimitri turns around to pull something from the fridge, and I begin the shake the flour out of the bag. As I do so, some just _happens_ to slip out of the bag. And onto the back of Dimitri's head. His dark hair gets covered with a layer of the powdery white, and he freezes, his back to me.

I begin to giggle uncontrollably, which soon turns into full on crazed laughter. "Oops." I manage to get out before I dissolve into another fit of snickers. He turns around slowly, and the look he gives me as he does would have sent anybody else running for the hills. I, however, just begin to laugh harder.

"Is something funny, Rose?" He doesn't look like he finds anything amusing. I guess now would be a good time to become worried, but my humor doesn't fade.

"Yeah. You look really stupid with the back of your head all covered in flour."

He's nothing more than a flash and a blur as he whisks past me. Suddenly, I find myself covered in the white powder as well. Now it's his turn to have a laugh at me. I take another handful and toss it his was as he simultaneously does the same. This goes on for a while, until he tackles me to the cold, tiled floor, mindful to keep my head from slamming to the hard ground.

"You are a dead man, Belikov."

"Need I remind you that it was you, not me, who started this?"

"You didn't need to continue it. I thought you were the bigger person, Dimitri. I guess I thought wrong. We all know how immature I am, but I was counting on you to put an end to it." I huff.

A soft cough brings our attention to the entrance of the kitchen, where Sonya Belikov is standing, her hands placed accusingly on her hips. One of her eyebrows is cocked, and I internally sigh. _Damn. Another one who can do that. It must run in the family. Or maybe it's just a Russian thing._

I realize how compromising our situation must look to her. Both of us spread out on the kitchen floor, with Dimitri lying on top of me, the both of us covered in flour. I begin to laugh again, at the ridiculousness of it, and soon Dimitri joins in. Sonya just looks confused.

"What the hell are you doing here, Dimitri?" Her words aren't harsh, just puzzled.

"What, a man can't come visit his family with his beautiful girlfriend?"

"Oh, you. Get over here and give your sister a hug."

He jumps up and off of me, pulling me along with him. He's standing my Sonya in a heartbeat, pulling her into a huge hug. He murmurs something to her in Russian, and she nods. She reaches for me as well, and I wrap my arms around her thin body as she pulls me close.

"Thank you, Rose."

I just nod, conveying everything I needed to in just one glance.

"Well," she announces, clasping her hands together. "It's late, and I'm exhausted. I'm going to head up and hit the sack. Have fun doing whatever you were doing. Goodnight."

We call our goodnights as she leaves, and then return to the counter.

"Do you think we can continue without ending up on the floor?"

I pretend to think for a second. "I think I can manage that."

"You said that last time, too, and look where we ended up."

"Hey, you shouldn't have turned around in the first place. You can't say that you didn't see it coming."

"Naturally, it's my fault that we both somehow ended up covered in flour."

"You are the only one to be blamed here."

"I'm sorry, Rose. I'm extremely sorry for initiating this war."

"Apologies get you nowhere, Belikov. You should know this by now."

"God, it confuses the hell out of me how I've been able to put up with you all this time, Rose. You sure are a piece of work."

I give him a cheeky grin. "But you love me for it."

"I wouldn't have you any other way."

**Reviews mean fast updates!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi everyone! I just wanted to say that I suck. Really badly. This chapter's not the MOST interesting. But.. I'm gonna go ahead and say that things are going to pick up speed in the next chapter.. :) Please read and review, they make my day! Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 7**

Dimitri mixes all of the ingredients together and creates a thick dough out of the batter. I stand back quietly and watch in shock as he expertly rolls out the dough. After he's got a nice thin sheet of the mixture spread out on the countertop, he turns to grin devilishly at me.

"This is my favorite part." He announces.

"Which would be what, exactly?"

"The beating."

"The beating?"

"Yeah, you've got to beat the dough out pretty well. Which is why we'd always end of with lots and lots of bread when I'd come home from school in a bad mood. It's a good way to relieve tension, and also, you get a damn good snack out of it."

"Well, let's get to it then, Comrade."

He steps aside and smirks. "You can go first, Rose."

"Gladly." I take his place in front of the dough and give it a nice, hard punch. It doesn't move under the impact, and I frown and hit it again. And again. This goes on for a while, until Dimitri pulls me back. "That's enough. It's sufficiently beaten now."

"You were right. That was very enlightening."

He smiles and molds the floppy dough into the shape of a loaf and puts it in a greased pan. Not even bothering to use oven mitts, he sticks the pan into the oven and sets a timer.

"Now we wait."

"How long?"

"An hour or so, or until it turns brown. We have to keep an eye on it."

We go back to sit on the couch. I flop down beside him and rest my head on his shoulder. His arms automatically go around my waist, and I snuggle further into him.

"I missed it here." He says a little while later, a faraway look in his eyes.

"I did, too. I didn't enjoy it much last time. I couldn't, not with everything that was going on. I didn't take the time to actually notice the beauty here."

"It's pretty amazing if you know where to look. I'll take you around the town tomorrow; show you some of my favorite places. There's a small park not too far from here. You'll like it."

"Sounds good." By now, the smell of the bread has begun to waft into the living room, and it's driving me crazy.

About fifteen minutes later, the timer on the oven goes off, and Dimitri gets up to take the bread out and let it cool. I stay sprawled out on the couch and go over to the TV and turn it on, snatching the remote off of the coffee table. A news channel is the first thing I see, but it's in Russian. I don't know what I was expecting Russian television to exactly be like, but there had to be English entertainment, right? MTV or something? I flick through quickly, pausing for only a second on each channel to see what language it was in. The only channel I can find that's in English is playing some cooking show where a guy in his mid-sixties is mixing a brown mixture in a bowl. Even he speaks with a thick Russian accent, but it's not bad enough to where I can't understand him. I sigh, realizing that this is the best I'll get. Unfortunately, it gets boring after, I don't know, a whole minute, and I turn it off and go to the kitchen.

Dimitri turns around as I walk into the room.

"Anything on TV?"

I shake my head. "Nope. It's all in Russian."

He chuckles lightly. "Just saying, but this _is_ Russia, Rose. In case you hadn't figured it out yet."

"Oh, well aren't you Mr. Funnypants."

"Excuse me?"

I shrug. "I heard someone say it one time in the mall or something. I wanted to try it out."

"And how'd it feel?"

"Incredibly lame."

"I thought so too."

"Hey! You're supposed to love me. You can at least pretend to think my stupidity is funny."

"In that case, you're the funniest person in the world, Roza."

"Are you calling me stupid?"

He turns back around to the loaf of bread nonchalantly. "No."

"Jerk."

"Hey, I couldn't let that one pass. Too good of an opportunity."

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you're usually such a hard-ass. Most of the time, anyways. And now you're joking around and it's pretty strange."

"Sorry. I can go back to being boring if that's what you prefer." He jokes.

"No, I like you like this. It was just a change, that's all."

"I don't know, it probably has something to do with being around my family after such a long time that's got me in such a good mood. I sort of feel whole again, you know what I mean?"

I think back to the moment when Dimitri was staked by Lissa and returned to his dhampir state, and know exactly what he means by feeling whole. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." I smile at him, and he returns it instantly. God, that smile drives me insane sometimes.

"So," he says. "What do you want to do tomorrow?" He glances at the clock on the microwave. "Actually, today, as of thirty-one minutes ago."

I shrug. "I dunno. You're the one who grew up here. Just show me around."

"Will do. I'll take you to this amazing little park down the road. We can take Paul while Karolina's at work."

"Sounds like a plan." I'm actually really looking forward to this, going around Dimitri's hometown while he points out places that he used to go to as a kid. I know he's excited as well, because that beautiful smile of his won't leave his face.

By now, the bread has cooled and it's ready to be eaten. I poke the top just to make sure it's done and doesn't collapse under my touch. It stays firm, and I smile.

"Well, I'd say that I did a pretty damn good job making this bread, if I do say so myself. What do you think, comrade?"

"Oh, Roza." He sighs and shakes his head, but he's amused. That much I can tell. "Is there anything you can't do?" He asks sarcastically and then turns to look at me with a false look of awe on his face.

I pretend to think about this. "Nope," I hum after a while. "I'm pretty sure I'm as close to perfect as they come." I'm kidding, of course, but a smile appears on his face.

"That you are, Rose. Absolutely, one hundred percent perfect. Perfectly _you_."

I blush hard, because no matter how long we've been together, comments like these still make my whole body tingle.

"I guess you're pretty cool too, Dimitri." He frowns at me and narrows his eyes, silently demanding another answer. "Okay, so you're like the coolest person I've ever met. Not to mention you're a badass. And a God. And you can make a grown man piss his pants just by looking at him the wrong way. And I love you for that."

"How charming. That just warmed my heart, Rose."

"Yeah, I'm pretty well known for my fantastic speeches. I really know how to make a person feel awesome about themself."

"Your talent just astounds me."

"Mmhmm. It does that to people."

"What would I do without you, Roza?" He chuckles and pulls me closer to him.

"Probably go insane cause of the gigantic void in your heart that's eating away and your soul and killing you slowly, day by day."

He laughs again and I can't help but giggle along with him. Taking a blunt butter knife out of a drawer, he cuts a slice of the delicious looking dark bread and places it on a green ceramic plate. My hand immediately goes to the plate, and I break off a piece of the soft bread. It comes easily into my hands, and the aroma fills the whole kitchen. I pop the bit into my mouth, and moan involuntarily at the magic sensations that are overwhelming my sensory palette. It's freaking _incredible_.

"It's good, huh?" Dimitri smirks at me. Asshole. I ignore him, though, because it's impossible to feel anything negative when something this good is in your mouth.

"Hell yes! It's all buttery and hot and it's melting in my mouth. God damn, now I remember why I fell in love with you."

"It was all because of the food, huh?"

"Absolutely."

"It's okay. I get to have you, and that's all that matters."

"Shh, comrade. That cheese doesn't taste good with this bread."

It's a horribly lame attempt at a joke, but he laughs lightheartedly anyway. His ability to make me feel good about my awful jokes is one of his most redeeming qualities, in my opinion.

We spend the next half hour polishing off the bread and talking. When we're done, our eyes are beginning to droop, so we clean up the kitchen and head up the stairs to the room Dimitri lived in all his life, and the one I stayed in when I came to visit the Belikovas while on my way to find- and kill- Dimtri.

It's just how I'd left it when I'd disappeared in the middle of the night, except the sheets on the bed had changed and there was a lamp in the far corner of the room. It was simple and clean, nothing fancy or elaborate, no posters on the blue walls, and I loved it because it reminded me of Dimitri.

He swiftly slips out of his clothes, and remains in his boxers. I try to refrain from drooling at the site of his chiseled body exposed to me. I bite my lip and start to rummage through my suitcase, trying to fine acceptable sleepwear. I finally decide on one of Dimitri's white t-shirts and some navy blue shorts of mine, and crawl into bed beside him once we're done brushing our teeth in the joined bathroom. I snuggle against his cozy body and just breathe him in- nothing can beat the feeling of just laying next to Dimitri. I feel safe and warm and there's nothing else to say except it just feels _right_.

I sigh contentedly and he pulls me closer, moving his arms so that they're around my waist. His head rests in the crook of my neck, and his shallow breathing lulls me to sleep.

I wake up about six hours later to sunlight streaming through the windows of the room. I groan and throw my arm up to shield my eyes from the harsh rays.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty."

"Ugh," I moan, flipping over so my head's tucked under the pillow and it's mercifully dark.

"Well, hello to you to."

"Can you stop being so damn annoying? You know I'm not a morning person." He laughs.

"It's not a big secret that you're not a morning person, Rose."

"And you'd think that people would wait to bug me until it's a decent hour."

"It's a perfectly decent hour. It's almost ten o'clock."

"Yeah. But we're on the other side of the world. It's gonna take me a while to adjust."

"The only way you can adjust is by waking up at a normal time."

"You suck, Dimitri."

"Get out of bed, Rose. I'll make you pancakes."

"You know, I'm a bit hurt that all you think I care about is food."

"So you don't want the pancakes?"

"I never said that. I'll be down in ten minutes."

I don't need to look at him to know that he's smirking and making his way downstairs. I hear him start to descend down the stairs, and I make another sound of annoyance before I get out of bed and stomp over to the bathroom. I brush my teeth and tie my hair up into a ponytail, because, quite frankly, it's not the prettiest sight to see in the mornings, no matter how much Dimitri disagrees.

The smells wafting upstairs from the kitchen are driving me crazy, so I finish up as quickly as I can and race down the stairs.

"Anxious, are we?" Dimitri chuckles. He's the only one in the kitchen.

"So I'm a bit hungry. Sue me." I roll my eyes. "Hey, where is everybody?"

"Um, Mama went out to visit a few friends, Sonya and Karolina are at work, Vika is at a friend's house, and Babushka might have gone over to see Mark and Oksana."

"Oh." My eyes light up at the mention of Mark and Oksana. They both helped me tremendously the last time I'd see them, and I definitely wanted to catch them before we went back home. "Can we go visit them soon?"

"Sure, whenever you want. I haven't seen them in years, either."

"You know, without Oksana's help, Lissa'd probably be dead? Or at least bonded to that bitch Avery."

His eyebrows wrinkle, and I realize that he hadn't heard the story. "While I was in Russia, a girl named Avery Lazar was attending the Academy. I'd been keeping in touch with Lissa through the bond, and I'd known that something was off with her. She started doing the dumbest things, and I was pushed out of her head a couple times. I didn't know why, but then I realized that Avery was actually a spirit user and she wanted to kill Lissa so she could make her shadow kissed, like me. Anyway, Oksana kind of channeled Lissa while I was in her head so I was able to talk to her and coach her through the whole beating-up process. At one point, Lissa threw the most beautiful blow I'd ever seen. Almost knocked the guy unconscious."

"Lissa?" He asks, confused.

"Yeah, I know. Shocked the hell out of me too."

"Huh."

"So, comrade, when're we leaving so you can give me a tour of your hometown?"

"Whenever you want, I guess. We can finish breakfast, get ready, and leave right after that."

"Sounds good." I say, and smile as he turns off the stove and puts the pancakes onto a plate. In addition, he's cooked scrambled eggs and bacon. He knows me a little bit too well. I take some of everything and sit down at the kitchen table with a fork and a glass of fresh orange juice.

"'Is esh sho good." I mutter with my mouth full, and he shakes his head.

"Now, Rose. How many times have I told you to swallow your food before you start talking."

"Way too many."

"I wouldn't have to tell you over and over again if you'd actually listen, now would I?"

I don't answer him; just go back to eating my breakfast.

"I'm going to go up and take a shower, okay? You finish eating."

"Aren't you going to have anything?" He eyes my food in disgust. I should've known better. He'd never eat anything with this much grease and fat on it.

"I had some cereal while I was cooking. I'm all set."

"Okay."

He walks up the stairs and goes into the bathroom. After a few minutes, I finish scarfing down my food and get up to put my plate in the sink. I wash it off and stick it in the dishwasher, then go upstairs to see if Dimitri's done with the shower. As I go up, he's just exiting the bathroom, a green towel wrapped dangerously low on his hips. I avert my eyes so I don't do anything uncalled for, biting my lower lip, and go into the bedroom to pick out some clothes. I take a dark blue tank top with floral embroidery neat the hemline out of the suitcase, which I need to unpack in the worst way, and a pair of white shorts that reach a little higher than mid-thigh to match. I take the clothes into the bathroom and run the hot water as I strip and then go and stand under the steam. After I wash myself off, I dry myself off and change, then go out and brush my hair. Dimitri's unpacking our suitcases on the bed, and organizing the stacks of clothes in the dresser. Bless his heart.

When I'm all ready to go, Dimitri puts on his shoes, and we head out the door, walking out onto the sunny street. The smile on his face grows even wider, and I can't help but grin as well. I breathe the fresh air in and take Dimitri's hand, and I can't remember a time that I've been happier.

**I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I possibly can. School's started again, so now I'll have more time to write when I'm putting off my homework :)**

**Also, it's RAINING! And that has me in a really good mood because it seriously hasn't rained in months and I loooveee rain! Thanks for reading, you beautiful people, and please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Time lapse alert.. I kinda skipped past Russia. I just COULD NOT write it. But I've got the next chapter completely done, so that should be up pretty quickly. Hope you enjoy:)**

**Chapter 8**

I can't believe that our two-week vacation is already coming to an end. The time's flown by like it's only been a couple days rather than weeks. It's our last night in Baia and Dimitri and I are busy with the last of our packing (we've stupidly put it off until the last minute) and saying tearful goodbyes. We're leaving extremely early tomorrow morning- way too early, if you ask me- and we don't want to wake everybody up just to say goodbye, so we're getting it done with tonight. And trust me, it's not an easy process.

"Rose, are you sure you don't want us to wake up and take you to the airport tomorrow? It's not a big deal at all. We'd love to see you off. God knows when we're going to see you again." Olena pleads, looking at me with wide eyes.

"There's no need, Mama. Our flight leaves at eight tomorrow morning from the Novosibirsk airport, which means we have to leave for the train station at around 2:45 so we can catch the train back into Novosibirsk. All of you need to sleep; you have work tomorrow, and Paul has to be up early for school." Dimitri reasons.

"But how will you two eat?"

"I know how to use the kitchen, Mama." She looks skeptical. "And, in any case, we can find plenty of food in the airport. Also, they feed us more than they should in the plane as well."

She still appears unconvinced. "We're two grown adults, Mama. And I promise we'll visit again soon. Or maybe you can come to Pennsylvania, to Court."

"If you're sure, Dimka."

"Positive, Mama."

And with that, she rushes forward and pulls him into a tight hug, muttering sweet words to him in Russian. She reaches up and pulls his head down a good foot so she can kiss his forehead. While their exchange goes on, Yeva approaches me, her petite, frail frame standing about five inches under mine. Her eyes bore powerfully into mine, and she looks at me meaningfully.

"Things are going to start happening, Rose. Things that make you question who you are and what you've learned all your life. Just go along with it. Don't demand anything. Just work with whatever's thrown your way, because I promise, the pay in the end will be well worth it." Like usual, I can't even begin to decipher what the crazy old lady means. I just smile and nod, still pondering her strange words.

"Thank you, I guess. I want to ask you what in the hell you mean, but I have a feeling that you're going to say something along the lines of '_Rose, you've got to absorb the events of your future as they come to you. I'm only here to guide you along. I can't tell you your future, only what to expect of it_.'"

Her smile is thin and amused. "Just listen to what I tell you." She begins to walk away but then she turns back. "And you were very close. I cannot part with my knowledge of the future, because then things start to change. Just believe me when I tell you that you and Dimka are going to go through hard times, but in the end you'll come back together stronger than before."

"Oh, look. Something to look forward to. Dimitri and I going through 'hard times.'"

"Don't mock your future, Rose."

"Sorry, Yeva. All of this just kind of seems odd, you know?"

"I know, Rose." She pauses briefly. "You know, I think it's time you started calling me _Babushka_. You're part of the family now." And with that, she turns to Dimitri without another word. I can't help the smile that appears on my face at what has to be the nicest thing she's ever said to me.

Olena wastes no time taking me in a huge hug. She's apparently done with Dimitri, who's getting all of Yeva's- er, Babushka's- attention.

"Oh, Rose." She says, close to tears. "You don't know how much we're going to miss you here. You've brought us something that we could have never expected in our lives, and we can't even begin to thank you enough for what you've done and what you've gone through to bring our son back into our lives."

"It was nothing, really. You make it sound like I'm some spectacular Dhampir. I'm not. I'm just a girl who went to extents that normal people probably wouldn't to get her boyfriend back from the undead."

"Doesn't matter what you think. All that matters is that you did, Rose. And most people wouldn't. A normal girl would have given up on her boyfriend after something like this happened. You, though, were determined and went on nothing by a myth, a story, to get our Dimka back. I can't wait until the two of you get married and you can officially be a part of our family. I mean, you practically are already, but when it's official, you can really be my daughter!" I flush at the mention of marriage.

"Olena, I don't know quite what you mean about us getting married. I mean, we love each other, there's no doubt about that, but we've never talked about marriage. Dhampirs usually don't get married, especially not two dhampirs together. Our relationship is already pretty official as it is- what's a couple documents in retrospect?"

"I suppose you're right," She says, her face falling just the slightest bit, but it brightens right back up again. "But I'm still not getting my hopes up." She kisses my head just as she did to Dimitri, and then walks off into the kitchen whistling.

All at once, Karolina, Sonya, and Viktoria attack me. Well, not really attack, but they all come and throw their arms around me simultaneously.

"We're going to miss you!"

"Oh, Rose. I don't know what on earth we're going to do without you here."

"You'd better call. And Skype. Whatever it takes. Just don't loose touch again, okay?"

"I'm going to miss you guys too. A lot. But I promise we'll try to make it back here soon, and you guys have to come up to Pennsylvania as well! We'll call often, I swear. It's going to be hard going back home."

"We love you, Rose." Viktoria says, her eyes glistening. "You're like a sister to us. And we couldn't have picked a better girl for Dimka ourselves."

"I'm just glad I picked a guy who's got awesome sisters like you guys."

"Auntie Rose?" A small voice comes from behind me. Paul's nine now, and it seems like he's getting a bit taller each day we're here. He's already at the five-two mark, and in the next couple years, he'll be my height. When he's older, there's no doubt that he might even surpass Dimitri's immense six-seven body.

"What's up, buddy?" I try to keep the sadness out of my voice. I'm going to miss the kid like crazy.

"I don't want you and Uncle Dimka to go back."

"I don't really want to go back either, Paul. I like it here. But Dimitri has a job to get back to at home, and I need to get back to school. Also, I'm a guardian for the Queen, and we can't leave her unprotected, now can we?"

He shakes his head. "No, I guess not. I'm gonna miss you. A lot."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Shortstop." The nickname cracks me up every time, because Paul's the exact opposite of short for being nine years old. "But we'll talk on the phone, okay? And we can video chat."

"Alright." He agrees. "But you have to promise to come back quick."

"I promise, kiddo." I then pull him to me and wrap my arms around his skinny body. When we pull apart a minute later, Zoya wobbles up to me and wraps her chubbly little toddler arms around my leg. I bend down so I'm eye-level with her.

"Hey, tiny thing."

"Hi Awntie Rosie. Awe you weaving me?"

"I'm afraid I have to, darling."

"I don't want you to go."

"We'll be back soon, I promise. Maybe well even come for Christmas this year."

"I'd wike that."

"You be good while we're gone, okay? Don't give your mom too much trouble."

"I won't Awntie Rose."

"Good." I give her a hug too, and kiss her head lightly. Katerina doesn't talk yet, but she's resting on her mat in the middle of the living room. I go up to her as well, and crouch down and sit Indian-style on the carpet.

"Hi, baby." She just grins her adorable smile and makes baby noises.

"I know you probably can't understand me right now, but I can't leave you without saying goodbye, now can I?" I swear I see her shake her head.

"I'm probably not gonna see you for a while, Katie." I'd begun to call her by her American nickname, confusing Sonya, who'd been calling her daughter by the weird Russian nickname she seemed to prefer. "But don't forget me, okay?" I pet down the tuft of hair on her head and press a kiss to her forehead as well.

That's it for goodbyes, I guess. It's a bittersweet feeling, more bitter in it than sweet. I don't want to leave here, everyone's great and the town is absolutely beautiful, though I do miss Lissa and everyone back at Court. It's fantastic here, and I wish we'd come earlier. It makes Dimitri happy, too, which is the greatest benefit of all. This is the first time in a while I've seen him so happy all the time; he rarely ever frowns. The part that kills me is seeing him with Paul, Zoya, and Katerina. The look on his face says more than he ever could. He loves them to death, and I hate that I can't give him what he wants more than anything- a real family to love and call his own. He says that he's happy with just me, but I know he wants more. I'll have to forget about it for now, but it'll come to mind again soon, and when it does, it weighs in like a ton of bricks. I sigh and push the thought to the back of my mind for later, and focus on the present. Dimitri's done with his goodbyes as well, and he comes to my side and puts an arm around my waist.

"I can't believe it's already been three weeks."

"I know. It's crazy. I'm going to miss it here." I frown.

"Remember when you thought Russia was an arctic wasteland?"

"I'm still not entirely convinced that it isn't."

He rolls his eyes at me. "You're too stubborn for your own good. For my own good, even."

"I mean, it's nice now, but it's March. I don't even want to know what the weather's going to be like in January."

"It's cold, yes, but it's just about the same as what you grew up with in Montana."

"I have an extremely hard time believing that."

"You've never been entirely easy to convince."

"Well, for what it's worth, I had an awesome time here. Much better than last time." I frown slightly. "It really is a beautiful town. I want to come back soon."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I've missed it here as well. When I was, well, you know, I spent a night here, but I had to leave as soon as possible. Even as a Strigoi, I couldn't deal with the memories I'd made here as a child."

I rub his back in a soothing sort of way, because I know that he still gets the tiniest bit worked up when he relives his Strigoi past.

"It's okay, Dimitri. You're not the same person anymore. That's your past and this," I gesture around me. "Is your present. Don't dwell on the shit that happened in the past. Because it's over and what's done is done."

"I just wish I could take it back. I still dream about them, you know. All the innocent people I made my snacks."

"It's normal to feel guilty. God knows I did after I killed Victor."

"Victor Dashkov wasn't exactly an innocent man, Rose."

"My point is that you can't live with this guilt consuming you for the rest of your life, Dimitri. Everybody's forgiven you. Everybody's accepted the fact that you weren't yourself when you did all of those things. If you keep feeling guilty, it's going to make your own life suck. And where would that leave you?"

"I'm trying my hardest, Rose. And I'm getting there, I swear. It's going to take a while. Not forever, but I just need time to think about this. If I'm really going to try to forgive myself for the things I've done, it's going to take some time. I'm already halfway there."

"Good. That's what I want to hear. I don't care how long it takes, Dimitri. Just as long as you're trying."

"I am, Roza. I promise."

"Dimitri!" Olena's voice rings from the kitchen.

"Yes, Mama?"

"I've printed out the boarding tickets for the two of you, so you don't have to do it at the airport. Also, I've made you some black bread to take back home. Remember to take it."

I smile at the sweet gesture. "Thank you, Mama." He says gently, and there's a sad, faraway look in his eyes.

"Oh, Dimka. Promise to come visit soon. Your mama needs to see her baby boy more often than once every few years."

"We will, I promise. I miss all of you too. Maybe Christian will cut me some slack and give me vacation time this winter."

"Christian may be a douche, but he's not gonna keep you from visiting your family." I say. "I can promise you that much."

"I didn't think he would. Regardless of what you think of him, Rose, Christian's not a bad kid."

I scoff. "Okay."

After half an hour of more goodbyes, everyone except Yeva retires to bed. She hangs around mysteriously, just staring at the two of us.

"Babushka, you can head to bed now. We'll see you soon, I promise."

"Bye, Dimka. Remember what I said." He nods and she turns to me, giving me a meaningful glance. "You too, Rose."

"I will."

"Good." She abruptly turns and heads into the shadows. We both stare at her back as she retreats, and when she's gone, we finally turn to each other.

"So it's eleven now. We'll need to leave in like three and a half hours. Our bags are packed, so the choice now is whether or not we want to take a quick nap before we leave for the train station."

"I vote for the nap."

He chuckles softly. "Yeah, I thought you would."

We head up the stairs and into our room. I collapse onto the bed and Dimitri follows shortly after. "I'll set the alarm for two-twenty, okay?"

"Sure," I mumble, but I'm already half asleep. Warmth from his body floods into me and I drift into sleep.

**Review? It'd make my day, and since the next chapter's written, that'll be up much faster :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

At exactly two-twenty in the morning, the alarm goes off in the room, and I groan, stretching my arms out. Dimitri's not sleeping next to me, and I briefly wonder where he went before I see him coming out of the walk-in closet, now dressed in a black t-shirt, jeans, and, naturally, his duster.

"Good morning." He smiles and I glare.

"This is not morning. This is a god-forsaken hour to be awake. My theory is that if you're awake before the sun is, you should be checked into a mental institution."

"Well, sorry, but we don't have a choice. We need to get to the station. The train leaves at three-thirty, and it'll take like half an hour to walk there."

"Are you sure it's safe to be walking in the dark?"

"It'll most likely be fine. We walked here in the dark. There are plenty of main roads along the way, and as long as we stick to those, the chances of Strigoi attacking are slim to none. In all the time I spent living here, there was only one major Strigoi attack."

"Also," I add. "We're pretty badass guardians. Strigoi don't have anything on our skills."

"Go get changed, Rose. I'll bring our bags downstairs and wait for you."

"'Kay."

I go into the closet and take out the set of clothes I'd saved for today, and put my old clothes into the suitcase we'd reserved for our used clothes. I change into a pair of black sweatpants with the "Pink" logo on the leg in green, and a tight lime green tank top. I throw a hoodie on that matches the sweatpants, and run a brush through my hair. Thankfully, it's not too tangled after my nap, but it still doesn't look too hot, so I bind it into a high ponytail with a purple elastic. I don't bother with any makeup aside from some shiny lip gloss that tastes like vanilla cupcakes, seeing as how nobody's going to be staring at me on the plane back. I bring the bag from the closet that I'd stuffed my clothes in, and walk around the room once again and make sure we haven't skipped anything that we need to pack. Once I'm satisfied, I take one last look at the room and walk out and down the stairs into the living room, where Dimitri is standing with all the bags.

"You ready to go?"

"Yup, I'm all set."

It's about two-forty by now, so we head out the door. We probably look a bit strange to a passing bystander, with our suitcases and whatnot. We've got three- one for each of us, and then one other one for miscellaneous extra things that don't fit in our own bags.

As we walk, I look around me and take in the scenery that I won't be seeing again for a while. As much as I'd enjoyed making fun of Dimitri's home, I could now understand what he meant all those times when he'd stare off into thin air and ramble about how beautiful it really was.

We walk quickly, and make it to the train station about twenty-five minutes later, at three-ten. We go to the ticket counter and buy the train tickets. There's hardly anyone at the station, and the eerie quiet is starting to make me nervous. Dimitri's on edge as well, looking around every few seconds, as if anticipating an attack. Now that I'm not connected to Lissa anymore, I'm pretty sure that I've lost me extra sense that led me to acknowledge the Strigoi before anyone else. There's no violent lurching in my stomach, so either we're not in immediate danger, or I've lost the ability to sense them. I'm not sure, though, seeing as we haven't encountered any Strigoi since I was shot. I'm not entirely certain that I've given up the capability, though, because I was still able to see the ghosts on the plane ride here. I'll be hard not to completely rely on the nauseous feeling to be able to tell when Strigoi are near.

I move closer into Dimitri's side, and his arm tightens around my shoulder. He'll never admit it, but I think he's scared too. There's always been rumors about attacks happening at the train stations in the middle of the night.

Then I feel it. That familiar heaving in the core of my stomach. "Shit. Shit. Shit." I hiss quietly, and Dimitri looks at me, alarmed.

"There are Strigoi here."

He swears in Russian, and I would be impressed if we weren't in such a dangerous situation. We both stand up and draw our stakes, which are always concealed somewhere on our bodies, or in a place easy to access, like a backpack or something. Mine's strapped to my lower leg, hidden by my baggy sweatpants. My grip on it tightens as we turn so our backs are touching.

"Be careful, Rose."

"I'm always careful."

He snorts. "Can you tell how many there are?"

"The nausea isn't as strong as it's been before, so I'm guessing two or three. Four, maximum."  
"Okay, that's not so bad. We can deal with four."

"Easily."

My eyes scout around the horizon. I hadn't noticed before, but any human that had been here previously was gone; they'd probably caught their train and were long gone. It was just the two of us. Well, us two and then some Strigoi. No big deal.

They appear then, all chalky skin and creepy red eyes. There are three of them, and I'm not too worried. The two of us can easily take three of the undead. There's a woman, and a boy that can't be much older than I am. I'm guessing that they're both freshly turned- or 'awakened', as the Strigoi like to say. The third one's gonna be a bitch to deal with. It's an older guy, maybe in his thirties, and if he weren't evil and undead, I'd say he'd have been pretty good looking in his lifetime. By looking at him, I can tell that he's old, having been turned a while ago. He's probably insanely fast and strong, the result of draining many Moroi in his existence. Fun.

"Well, looks like we've got a couple dhampirs to enjoy, don't we?" The older guy's voice rings through the empty station, cold and calculating and void of any emotion.

The female growls in anticipation. "Patience, Anastasia. You'll get your meal."

"Novak, I haven't fed in a day. And these two look tasty- for dhampirs, at least."

"Like hell you will, bitch." I sneer.

"I like this one." The guy, Novak, announces. "She's feisty."

"We'll see how much you like me when this stake meets your chest, asshole."

"Calm down, Roza." Dimitri warns quietly from behind me.

The young boy is the first to attack. They'd formed a sort of triangle around us, the boy facing Dimitri, the female, Anastasia, facing me, and Novak just standing in the middle of it all, waiting to jump in, but only if necessary. The dumb Strigoi had clearly underestimated us. As soon as the boy had lunged at Dimitri, he'd easily blocked the naïve Strigoi's advances, and staked him as soon as he got an opening just a minute later. The boy fell to the ground, and the bastard Novak took his place in front of Dimitri. Anastasia hadn't made her move yet; she just stood there, smirking at me as if she didn't expect much out of a petite, skinny dhampir.

"We gonna do this today, sweetheart?" I ask mockingly, putting on a false sugary tone.

"If you want your death to be sooner rather than later, I guess we could get this going." She takes her chance and jumps at me. I step aside swiftly, moving out of the way, and track each of her movements so I'm ready to block whatever she gives to me. I throw a kick to her ribs, and it's hard enough to make her stagger back a foot or two.

"Not bad, dhampir. Too bad it's got to end for you."

I roll my eyes and sprang at her body. She hadn't been expecting it, so the impact took her by surprise. I pin her down easily by pushing my entire body weight against her, using my arm to hold her neck against the ground and my legs to pin down the rest of her body. She thrashes against me violently, but I notice the opening to her chest and take it, sliding my stake up through the ribs and into her heart. She stops fighting me and falls back, limp and dead.

Dimitri's still fighting the guy, Novak, so I get up, brush myself off quickly, and jump into the fight, plunging my stake into his shoulder from behind. He screams in agony, and Dimitri shoves his own stake into the guy's chest, and he falls to the grimy floor as well. We both fall silent for a moment, breathing heavily. The whole thing had lasted no longer than twenty minutes. It's three thirty-five. The train's late.

"What the hell do we do with these bodies?" I ask.

"Call the Alchemists, I suppose. We can't exactly leave them here."

"Good call." I take out my cell phone and scroll through the contacts until I find Sydney Sage's number. She'd been released from her holding cell at Court, and was back to her normal routine, stationed in Louisiana. It's evening in the United States currently, so I don't have to worry about bothering her while she sleeps. She answers on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Sydney? It's Rose."

"Rose? Oh my Goodness. Hey! I'd say it's great to hear from you, but chances are, you're calling because you've been in a less-than-ideal situation."

"Right you are, Sage."

"How many are there, and where are you?"

"Three bodies, and we're at the train station just outside Baia."

"Whoa, you're in Russia? Awesome. I'll send somebody to take care of it as soon as possible. Can you hide the bodies somewhere? You're with Dimitri, right? Are you both okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Thank God. I'll hide the bodies under a bench or something." I hear the sound of the train coming up the tracks. "I have to go, Syd. Our train's here. Thanks for your help."

"No problem, Rose. I'll see you soon." We both hang up.

Dimitri and I move the bodies so they're stacked under the bench we'd been sitting on, and I pray that a human doesn't come through and see them. It's not even four, though, so the chances of that happening are slim.

As we're finished, the train pulls up at the station, and we gather our luggage and hop in. The cart's not empty, but it's not full, and I'm thankful that we're not alone here, as well. We take our seats in a corner, and I rest my head on his shoulder.  
"Well, that was a fun way to start the morning, huh?"

He chuckles. "It sure was." He looks me over. "You're not hurt or anything, are you? She didn't hurt you, right?"

"Nah, I'm all good. What about you?"

"I'm fine too. I might be a bit sore tomorrow, but I'm okay for now. The guy was pretty rough."

"I could tell."

Somewhere along the way, I nod off to sleep, and I'm jolted awake by the train coming to a stop in front of the airport. The sun's coming up by now, and I look to Dimitri. "What time is it?"

He glances at his watch. "It's almost seven. By the time we check in and get to the gate, it'll be eight. We should get going."

I take a bag, Dimitri takes the other two, and we leave the train. We're not far from the terminal we're supposed to go to, so it's a short walk. It takes about forty-five minutes to check in and go through the security checkpoint. After we get scanned, we take our bags and look for our gate. After ten more minutes of walking around, we find where we're supposed to be, and settle down in our seats. Dimitri was right; it's right at eight o'clock.

Twenty agonizing minutes of waiting later, an announcement finally comes over the loudspeaker that our flight is beginning to board. It's five minutes later that we board the plane. Dimitri sticks our bags in the compartment overhead, and sits down besides me. I make a conscious effort to keep my mental blocks up, because I really do not want a repeat of what happened last time. Once we get back, I'm going to have to sit down with Dimitri, Lissa, Sonya, and maybe even Adrian to find out why I'm still experiencing the side effects of the bond without actually being connected to Lissa.

"God, we're finally going home." He sighs.

"I don't want to go either." I put my hand on his knee. "But we kinda have to. It's St. Vlads with Sparky for you, and hours and hours of studying for me."

"I wish we could see each other more often. It was nice these past two weeks waking up and not having to wonder when I'm going to see you next."

"I know, Dimitri. Liss and I will try to come more frequently. She misses Christian too. We're taking extra classes so we can graduate a year early. It's killing us now, with all the extra work and stuff, but it'll be worth it when we can graduate next year."

"I'm glad."

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I will anyway. Just don't tell Christian, okay?" He nods. "Lissa's been talking to most of the royals, and her supervisors and stuff, to see if it would be okay if she didn't live at Court, but instead at St. Vladimir's."

"What?" He's shocked.

"She's asking if she could maybe build an extra building on the far side of campus for her offices, suite, and stuff. Her guardians would live there too."

"And everyone's okay with this?" By now, the plane's begun its journey down the runway, and its speed is accelerating. Soon enough, we're hovering above the ground, and climbing higher and higher into the sky by the second.

"Most people are. She is queen, after all. They can't exactly say no to her. Construction on the new building is supposed to start in a couple months."

"This is amazing, Rose!"

"Yup. We can finally live together. And see each other every day."

"So, just one more year after this one, right? And then you'll both be graduated?"

"That's the plan, yeah. We'll finish this year in three months, then it's summer, and then it's our last year. These classes are kicking my ass. I'm really freaking glad we're pretty close to finishing, though I know next year's gonna be ten times harder."

"You'll make it, Rose. I know you will."

"I'm not so sure. I'm still kinda shocked that I actually graduated from St. Vlads. And here, there's no combat class to save my GPA."

"You'll do fine. You and Lissa are majoring in Government and Political Sciences, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Government was my best class when I went to school. I'm sure that I can help you study for your finals this year."

"Thanks, Comrade. I have a feeling that I'll need all the help I can get."

"Are you still tired?"

I begin to shake my head but a yawn betrays me. "Apparently I am."

He smiles. "Go to sleep. I'll probably end up unconscious soon enough."

"Goodnight." I mutter. "Or, good morning's probably more accurate."

I wake up when the smell of food fills the first-class cabin.

"Whoa. How long have we been flying?"

"Only like two and a half hours. I guess this serves as our breakfast." A tray that consists of an omelet, a bowl of mixed fruit, some yogurt, and a glass of orange juice is placed on the pull out table-thing in front of me. I dig in. It's not the most fantastic, gourmet food there is, but it's food and that's good enough for me. I have to say, though, going from two weeks of Olena Belikova's cooking to this is a little bit shocking.

"I miss your mom's cooking already."

He laughs outright. "Yeah? I do too."

After I'm done with my breakfast, a lady comes and clears the tray. I stick the tray back in its slot and lean back in my seat again. My mind faintly registers falling asleep, and then I'm out like a light, and I don't wake up until we're landing in Pennsylvania.

**Hello, lovelies:) Here's the next chapter! Reviews are fantastic and wonderful!**


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